The Hunter's Chronicles: Broken Ties
by GTheRantingGriffin
Summary: it's been several months since the fight with Kora, Sam and Elvis are at peace and are looking forward to their wedding. Little do they know a string of unfinished business hits the family. Lines are both drawn and crossed when the tragedic death of a loved one occurs and puts Sam and Elvis' relationship to the test. Collab with Mo Will. PLEASE READ DISCLAIMERS!
1. Chapter 1

I don't normally write these types of stories but this is fanfiction...the land of Why not?

Hello, my fellow fletchings.

I am back with another story. This time I am joined by the Wonderful Mo Will who wrote the last Hunter Chronicle. I have taken it upon myself to write the next one seeing as this is a series that the two of us are working on together.

However, I just want to put up my disclaimers in case anyone decides to yell at me like last time:

1.) This story does contain a scene that may be unsettling to some viewers. If you feel the need to question our judgment please feel free to message either one of us privately.

2.) This story does with Homosexuality and homosexuals as parents

3.) this story does take on a serious issue

If you feel the need to be offended, just please DO NOT read plain and simple.

"Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right." -Ricky Genais

Feedback is always appreciated and is a must.

-G

Chapter One:

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A ginger haired man stirred from his sleep. He slammed his fist down on the alarm clock by his bedside. He sniffed sitting up. He slicked his hair back. He looked down at the black haired man sleeping next to him. He smiled slightly and gave his partner a soft nudge on his shoulder. He heard his partner groan quietly. "five more minutes..." The ginger haired man laughed. "it's time to wake up, Elvis. If I have to be up early, so do you." Elvis groaned. He pulled the blanket over his face. "but it's too early." Sam sighed. "come on, Elvis, we can either do this the easy way or the united way: you pick." Elvis just continued to lay there quietly. Sam sighed getting out of bed. "alright. I didn't want to do this but you have forced my hand." Sam grabbed the blanket that Elvis was clinging to and yanked it forcefully towards him. Sam quickly snatched Elvis into his arms making him stand on his feet. He held him close kissing him. Elvis placed his hands on Sam's chest trying to push him away. "Nah-ah don't fight me." snarled Sam. He kept his arms around Elvis' waist. Elvis started to feel dizzy. Sam soon pulled away. He ruffled Elvis' hair gently. "good morning sunshine. We have a big day today. Anika wants us to meet her downstairs. I just hope she hasn't been waiting downstairs all night."

Sam's phone pinged quietly. Sam picked it up. "apparently she wants us to meet her at the church house. She said just to bring some casual clothes with us." Elvis nodded. "did we want to eat before we leave?" Sam's phone pinged again. He looked down. "well that answers that question. She says that she has breakfast sorted and to just meet her there." Sam tucked his phone into his pocket. He took his fiance's hand. "let's get going."

The church house sat in the center of town. A huge water fountain sat in front of it. Sam and Elvis walked into the lobby where Anika was waiting for them. She was dressed in a white dress shirt and dark colored pants. Her hair had been done up nicely. She smiled seeing Sam. She quickly tossed her arms around him. She then hugged Elvis. "I am so proud of you two. Today is going to be a good day! Now, remember, this is just practice, not the real thing." She straightened herself up. "Penny is in the dining hall with Leon. Finley still is a no-show. I'd better call her." Anika stepped out of the church with her phone up to her ear. Elvis and Sam walked into the dining hall. Penny was occupying a 6-top near the center of the hall. Leon sat next to his mother. Penny looked up. "Here they are, the stars of the show." she grinned at them. "morning Penny." greeted Sam. He sat down in front of her. Elvis took his seat by Sam. He laid a hand in his mate's lap excitedly. "you guys may want to help yourself to the breakfast bar." said Penny. She motioned to the table behind them. "we've got a lot to get through apparently." Sam nodded. "go and get yours first, Elvis." Elvis got to his feet. "if you are sure, Sam." Elvis walked over to the bar.

Anika waited for Finley outside. A silver Jetta pulled up outside. A light blonde-haired woman got out of it. "Finley! so glad to see you!" beamed Anika. Finley smiled slightly as she accepted Anika's hug. "I was worried that you weren't going to show up." Finley chuckled softly. "don't worry. I wouldn't dream of leaving you hanging." Anika noticed that Finley had a sad edge to her voice. "everything okay?" asked Anika. Finley scratched behind her head. "yeah. Everything is fine. Just tired." Anika nodded in understanding. "feel free to join the boys in the dining hall. I think your sister and your nephew are there too now that I mention it. I'll join you guys in a second."

Sam stood near the breakfast bar. He glanced over the different options available. "hmmm." he pondered for a second. He shivered feeling a trail of fingers go up his spine. He spun around to see Finley standing behind him. "hello Sam." He smiled at her. "Hey, Finley." Finley looked over his shoulder. "see anything you like?" Sam sighed. "So many options. It's hard to narrow it down to just one." Finley smirked. She snatched up a couple of hash browns, eggs, and then some bacon. She danced around him lightly. She leaned into his ear. "making choices really isn't that hard once you can get your brain into gear." she winked at him before strolling off. Sam shook his head. Sam finally decided to settle on some muffins and a few eggs. He rejoined his husband and his friends at the table.

Anika clapped her hands together. "okay kiddies! As you know today is a practice ceremony. Tomorrow will be the actual thing so I want you to make all of your mistakes today." just as she was getting ready to explain everything, Charlie showed up with Sarah and James. Anika smiled. "perfect timing you three. I was just getting ready to explain how everything is going to work." she quickly turned her attention to Sam and the others. "Sarah will walk down the aisle first leaving a trail of flower petals behind. She won't have the petals until tomorrow seeing as today is only the practice run." Anika stood in front of the front pew. "once she's down, she'll stand here. Sarah will then be followed by Winter carrying the rings. The next group of people who will be coming down the aisle is Charlie and Bronwyn." Anika moved away from the pews. She motioned for Sam to stand next to her. "Charlie will stand here next to Sam." Anika moved over to a spot in front of Sam. "and Bronwyn will stand here." Anika returned back to the center. "Finley and Hoshi will make their way down the aisle next. Hoshi will stand next to his father while Finley stands next to Bronwyn." Hoshi smirked slightly at Finley. Finley didn't notice. "the final pair who will be coming down the aisle are Penny and Elvis. Penny, you will be escorting Elvis down the aisle. Elvis, once you reach the front, you will join Sam in the center." Anika looked at everyone. "okay people let's get started."

Anika walked over to the piano. She waited for everyone except Sam to be outside before playing. She began playing the wedding theme on the piano. Sarah walked down the aisle first. She kept the rhythm of the music. She reached the end of the aisle and took her place at the front. Winter soon followed suit. He had a pillow in his hands. He had a bit of swagger in his walk. He joined Sarah at the front. He gave her a small smile. Charlie offered his wife his arm. She smiled taking it. They began their walk down the aisle. Bronwyn leaned up against Charlie gently. They each took their places at the front. Charlie stood proudly by his brother. He watched his adopted son, Hoshi walks down the aisle holding Finley's hand. He didn't seem to mind holding hands with her. It was Finley who appeared to be a bit pale. They parted ways and took their places. Hoshi stood up a little straighter. It was soon Penny and Elvis' turn. Penny offered Elvis her hand. "you ready?" she asked. Elvis gave her a nervous nod. He took her hand gently. Penny and Elvis began walking down the aisle. Finley noticed that part of Sam's collar wasn't straight. She quickly dove forward to fix it. She then backed away giving him a thumb's up. Sam dipped his head at her. Penny noticed that Elvis was sweating..a lot. She cringed slightly. "Dude, are you sweating?" she asked quietly. "uh yeah what do you think people do when they are nervous as hell?" Elvis whispered back. "you're going to be just fine. We are nearly there. You have nothing to worry about." comforted Penny.

Sam could hardly contain his excitement. He stood up a bit more. Penny and Elvis reached the end of the aisle. Elvis took his lover's hands and joined him in the center. Sam cringed slightly at the amount of sweat on Elvis' hands. He quickly raised an eyebrow at him. Elvis smiled at him sheepishly which only made Sam laugh quietly. He lightly shook his head. Penny stood by her sister. She glanced at her. Finley only moved her head to the side slightly. Penny tilted her head to the side. That was a first. Anika got up from the piano. "good. Good. Alright, let's do this one more time. Hoshi and Winter, try to walk with a little bit more class." Winter chuckled quietly. This went on for a couple of hours before Anika decided to let them have a break. "Alright people, we'll break for lunch. Tom is outside on the grill if guys want anything."

The wonderful smell of grilled meat wafted through the air. Anika joined Penny on the porch. "does your sister have cold feet or something? She isn't very talkative today." Penny sighed crossing her arms. "I know and that's what bothers me. She hasn't been the same since the fight with Kora. She won't really tell me why she's upset she just is." Penny looked down. "I can't help but think it's the stress I put her through by leaving her for so long." Anika rested a hand on Penny's shoulder. "don't go blaming yourself. Let's just give her time and maybe she'll open up to us."

Sam sat down on the steps with Elvis who was enjoying some ice cream. He got a bit of the blue frosting on his nose. Sam resisted the urge to laugh. He grabbed Elvis' chin making them lock eyes with each other. Sam then proceeded to lick the frosting off of Elvis' nose. This earned him a slap. "have some manners!" Sam giggled. He stuck his blue colored tongue out at Elvis playfully. Elvis slapped him again. "Samuel Peyton Jones!" Sam laughed. "what? You had a bit of your icing on your nose." Elvis blushed madly. "it's called a napkin!" he crossed his arms looking away. "Men." he huffed. Sam scooted close to him. "aw..c'mon babe..don't be that way." Elvis didn't look at him. He smirked slightly. Sam wrapped his arms around Elvis. "babe, please don't be mad." Elvis just sighed. Sam didn't move. Elvis heard Sam go quiet which usually meant that he was plotting something. He dared himself to turn around. Upon doing so, Sam snatched him close. He snatched a kiss from Elvis knocking the wind out of him. Elvis pulled away lightheaded. "all is forgiven." murmured Elvis through slurred speech. Sam smiled. He kissed Elvis' neck.

The two of them sat in silence enjoying the scenery. "just think, one more day and you'll be mine." Elvis looked up at Sam. "I thought I was already yours." Sam rubbed his shoulders. "you are but I meant officially." Elvis nodded. Sam hugged Elvis tighter. "you don't need to be so possessive of me." Sam let out a small sigh. "I have to be in case Buck or Kora comes back. I can't allow either one of them to lay their hands on you." Elvis leaned against Sam's chest. "besides it's in my nature I can't help it." Elvis then had an idea. "Just how protective are you of me?" he asked. "pretty protective." Elvis sat up. "I don't believe you." Sam raised an eyebrow. Elvis smirked. "why don't you prove it if you are so sure." A deep growl escaped Sam's throat. "you really don't want to test me, dear. It would really give my kind a bad image." Elvis leaned in close. "are you scared?" Sam closed his eyes. He then opened them. His pupils had narrowed. "No, I just don't think that it would be a good idea for me to have my way with you on the steps." Sam gathered his composure. He steadied his breathing. He hated it when Elvis teased him like that. Elvis trailed his hand down Sam's chest. "why don't you and I have some fun tonight?" Sam held Elvis' hand. "Sounds like a plan." He gave Elvis a quick kiss before standing. "I better eat something while I have the chance or else I won't have the energy to do much of anything."

Finley was with her sister on the porch. She had hardly said a word to her. Finley got up from the table suddenly. She walked down the steps moving past Sam and Elvis. Penny sighed. She followed her sister. "Finley!" Finley ignored her sister's call. "Fin!" Penny grabbed Finley's shoulder. "hey!" Finley stopped in her tracks. "what's wrong? Have I done something wrong?" Finley wasn't meeting her gaze. "Fin, I have to know what's going on." Finley sighed and scratched her head. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Penny kept her hold on Finley. "it's not fine. Now, tell me what's wrong." Finley looked up at Penny. "it's nothing, I'm just stressed." Penny shook her head. "bullshit a ydych yn gwybod hynny." she said. "I feel like I only make things worse. I'm only burdening you." Penny hugged Finley tightly. "you aren't a burden to me, Finley. We're sisters for gods' sake. I know I haven't been there for you often but you were never a burden to me. You helped so many people myself included." Finley began crying. "yeah but I brought harm to your boss. I caused an innocent person to be harmed. I should have stayed in PontyPandy like Anika ordered but I didn't listen." Penny rubbed her sister's back gently. "he gave his life to protect us. he died doing what he loved. I owe that man my life." Penny made Finley look at her. "I think about all the people I've killed. All those lives I've taken and I think to myself, how dare I call myself human. I'm just as savage as the people who hurt us." Penny shook her head. "that's where you're wrong, Finley. Do you remember what mom always told us?" Finley shrugged. " Mae'n cymryd dewrder i dyfu i fyny a dod yn pwy ydych chi mewn gwirionedd. We've all chosen our paths in life. You forget that you've learned to use your skills for good. To help others in a way I wouldn't imagine doing." Finley sniffed. "thanks, Penny." Penny smiled.

Remember to read/ review

Feedback is a must!

and I will see you guys in the next chapter.

-G


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

Penny and Finley continued to sit side by side on top of a rock. Finley leaned up against her sister's shoulder. "mommy! mommy!" shouted a voice. A blonde haired boy ran up to Penny and Finley. Penny caught him in her arms. "Hey, kiddo." Leon hugged her neck gently. A tired Ellie came running up to them. "sorry Penny. He escaped my grasp." Penny set Leon down in her lap. "that's okay. I kind of knew he was going to do that." Ellie flopped down onto the grass. She let out a tired sigh. Anika approached the four of them. "hey girls. We'd better wrap it up. Tomorrow is the big day." Penny nodded. "I'll stay and help you clean, Anika."

The boys went home leaving the girls to still hang out in front of the church. Leon fell asleep in Finley's arms. She chuckled softly. "looks like someone is tired." she mused. Ellie tugged at Penny's sleeve. "hey, can I talk to you for like a couple of seconds?" Penny smiled. "of course." Penny followed Ellie into a private corner. "I need to tell you something." Ellie shifted uncomfortably. "I kind of like and what I mean by like you I mean I really like you. Like really really like you." Penny raised an eyebrow. "what?" Ellie blushed. "I love you damn it!" she covered her mouth. "I'm sorry." Penny cracked a smile. "you wanna know a secret." Penny leaned in closer. "I love you too and what I mean by I love you is that I really, really love you." She gave Ellie a kiss on the cheek. Ellie blushed some more. Penny pulled her in for a hug. "I've been meaning to tell you but you know how my dad is," whispered Ellie. "I know but you don't have to worry about him here." Penny took Ellie's hand. The two of them walked back to the others. Finley grinned. "Doedwn i ddim yn gwybod eich galwodd y ffordd honno, sis." Penny eyed her. " gau i fyny!" Penny playfully swiped at her sister who dodged it.

Sam sat on the edge of the bed. He waited for Elvis to come out of the bathroom. "everything okay in there babe?" he asked. "yeah. Everything is fine I just..can't believe that tomorrow is our wedding day." Elvis walked out of the bathroom. He had on a pair of shorts. Sam scooted closer to Elvis' side of the bed. "mean neither." Elvis sat down. He held Sam's hand in his. "now, should I have my way with you tonight or, wait until your mine tomorrow." Elvis kissed Sam's forehead. "how about tomorrow? We'll need our strength." Sam pretended to be hurt. "as you wish." Elvis gave Sam a quick kiss. He turned out the light. Sam let Elvis lean against his chest. "good night my love." Elvis smiled. "night Sam."

Anika and the girls arrived at Sam's house the next morning. Anika crept upstairs. She walked into Sam's bedroom to find the two of them asleep still. Anika shook her head. She went downstairs. She rummaged around in the kitchen until she found what she was looking for. She smiled looking at Penny and Finley. "wait here." she whispered. She snuck back upstairs carrying a pan and a wooden spoon. She loomed over the boy's heads. She waited a few seconds before banging the spoon against the pan. Sam bolted upright. Anika lowered them. "son of a bitch! Really?!" snapped Sam. Anika chuckled. "really. It's time to wake up sweetheart. Today is the big day." Elvis stirred out of a dead sleep. He rubbed his eyes yawning. Sam kissed his cheek. "good morning love." Elvis let out a small groan. "can I have five more minutes." Sam shook his head. "no, we have to get up dear. We can sleep when we get home though."

Elvis climbed out of bed. "at least I didn't wake up to a suffocating kiss." Sam then grinned. "you know, now that mention it." he moved closer to Elvis. Elvis immediately stood up. "I don't think so!" he made a break for the bathroom. Sam, being a bit agiler than he was on account of his hunter's blood, got ahead of Elvis. He stood in front of the door blocking his path. "I don't think you are going to get away from me that easily." sneered Sam. He flashed his fangs at Elvis. His eyes narrowed. "I don't let my prey get away from me." Elvis backed away. "oh no, my predator has caught me! Whatever shall I do to escape?" he pretended to look frightened. Sam slaughtered up to him. He yanked Elvis close to him. "don't bolt little deer." he leaned in. "you have nowhere to run." They were both about to kiss when Anika interrupted. "you two fuck boys done?" she asked crossing her arms. Sam pulled away from Elvis. "this hunter concedes. I'll let my little deer run away for now." Elvis smiled. "you suit up Sam first, Anika. I'll wait outside. Oh, and Samuel," Elvis let out a small moan. Sam snarled softly at him. He narrowed his eyes again in warning. Elvis chuckled and stepped outside. Anika looked at Sam. She tapped his cheek. "sit boy." Sam sits down on the edge of the bed obediently.

Anika pulled Sam's suit out of the closet. She shivered. "Your mother's aura is rather strong this morning. She must be excited about today too," commented Anika. Sam stood up. He changed out of his night clothes. Anika watched him. A part of her could hardly believe how much this boy had grown. She lightly touched the scar on his back. "it's hard to believe you've gotten this old." Sam chuckled. "I'm not that old." she ruffled his hair. "you were only a whelp when I first met you and now look at you. Your mother would have loved to have seen you boys grow up." Anika zoned out suddenly. Sam finished buttoning up his shirt. He frowned noticing how distant Anika looked. He shook her shoulder gently. Anika snapped out of it. "sorry, just some memories." she coughed into her hand politely. "well let's get you all dressed up. You'll need to leave the house first. Elvis isn't allowed to see you until the ceremony. I know you are both guys but the tradition still applies." She patted his back. Sam slipped into a pair of dark blue dress pants that had a white stripe going down the seams of the legs. Anika also helped Sam step into his tuxedo jacket which were the same color except the white stripes were around the cuffs. Anika then did up Sam's hair before he put on his red barret. "wait, I have to attach these to you too and then I have one more surprise for you." Anika pinned Sam's medals to his chest. "I know you hate wearing this but I suppose it's a tradition amongst the firefighting community." She then searched through his closet again. She pulled out a long, rectangular box. She opened it up. She carefully removed the cutlass from the box. "This was your mother's sword. I can still feel her aura around it." she attached it to his belt. "there. Now let's get you to the church."

Elvis looked at himself in the mirror. He had a black button-down shirt with a white tuxedo vest over it. He also wore a pair of black dress pants. Elvis let out a nervous sigh. Finley appeared behind him. She smiled at him in the mirror. "you look nice, Elvis." Elvis only nodded. He swallowed a painful lump which had formed in his throat. Finley rubbed his back. "you've got this, tiger. You'll do great out there." Elvis sighed. "I hope so." Finley's phone buzzed quietly. "that's our cue to go. We'd better get going."

Some of the streets in PontyPandy were closed off due to the wedding. Everyone in town was attending. Sam and Anika were already at the church. Anika looked down at her phone. "Elvis will be here soon. You'd better take your place at the front, Sam." Sam nodded. Sam entered the room. He took his place up front where the priest was already standing. Anika waited for the rest of the crew to show up. She smiled once everyone had been accounted for. "places everyone. This is just like we rehearsed except this time it's for real!" Anika headed into the room. She got behind the piano and began playing. Sarah made her way down the aisle first. She left behind a trail of white flower petals. Next was Winter who held the ring pillow carefully in his hands. Charlie took Bronwyn's arm in his gently. He escorted her down the aisle. He gave his brother a happy look. Bronwyn and him parted ways once they got to the front as they took their positions. That didn't stop Charlie from casting his wife a small smile. Finley and Hoshi were next. "you ready?" he asked. Finley nodded. Hoshi had hold of her arm with one hand and a cane in the other. The two of them walked down the aisle wearing robes that complimented each other. Finley smiled at Hoshi. The two of them took their places at the front.

Elvis and Penny waited for the song to change. "ready?" asked Penny. Elvis nodded nervously. Penny held Elvis' arm in hers. "I'm just as on edge as you are. Just remember what we rehearsed." They took their first steps together. Elvis focused his gaze up to the front. All of his doubt melted away when he saw the love of his life standing there. Sam stood taller. He smiled at Elvis. Elvis' hand trembled slightly. He wanted to be in the hands of his lover so bad. Penny and Elvis soon reached the end of the aisle. Penny handed Elvis off to Sam. Sam stood in the center with Elvis. The priest cleared his throat. "friends, family members, we are gathered here today to witness the union of two wonderful males. Before we begin if there's any objection to these two getting married, please speak now or forever hold your peace." The priest searched the small crowd for any opposing opinions only to turn up empty. He then returned his attention back over to Sam and Elvis. "Sam, Elvis, you two will now exchange vows and exchange rings between the two of you. Will the ring bear please step forward?" Winter snapped out of his haze. He carefully walked over to the two of them. Elvis and Sam each took a ring off of the pillow. Winter went back over to Sarah. Sam let out a nervous sigh as he lifted up Elvis' hand. "Elvis, you've been by my side since the beginning. I'm proud to have served as your mentor. I will be even more so as your new Station Officer. I hope that marrying you today that we'll continue to be together through thick and thin for many more years." He slid his ring around Elvis' finger. It was Elvis' turn. The youngster could hardly get his words out. His hand shook as he lifted up Sam's. Tears sprung to his eyes. "Sam, you've been the best friend a klutz like me could ever have. I'm not going to lie though, I thought you would tire of me after a while but you proved me wrong. I hope that our life together will last longer than any other married couple before us." Elvis slid his ring around Sam's finger.

The priest looked at the crowd one last time. "with the power vested in me and by the laws of Wales, I now pronounce you Husband and Husband. You may now kiss Elvis, Sam." Sam pulled Elvis close. He brought Elvis' face closer to his. A small smile played on Sam's lips. "don't move little doe." he cooed. He kissed Elvis harshly taking his breath away. The both of them heard their friends clap for them. Elvis and Sam soon broke the kiss. Anika clapped her hands. "Alright everybody let's get this show on the road! It's party time!"

People were dancing out on the dance floor of the building. Winter was getting his groove on with some of his friends from The Netherlands. He also had Sarah dancing beside him. Finley finally caught up with her sister outside. "sorry I'm late!" she leaned against the side of her sister's car. "Anika had me doing some last minute things for her." Penny chuckled. "it's fine. What did she need you to do?" she asked. "she wanted me to pick out a song for Sam and Elvis to slow dance to. It was kind of hard considering their personalities mix from time to time." Finley scanned the crowd of people. "have you seen Hoshi?" she questioned. "he's probably inside. He mentioned something about waiting for you." Finley nodded. She quickly made her way inside. Hoshi was hanging out near the back of the room. He was watching the crowd. His yellow eyes glew against his dark skin. Finley gulped nervously. "hey Hoshi." Hoshi looked up at her. He smiled. "hey Fin. Glad you could show up. I was saving you a dance." He offered her his hand. Finley took his hand. The two of them stepped out onto the dance floor.

 _Baby!_

 _It's time to make up your mind_

 _I think that tonight is when our stars align_

 _Honey!_

 _it's time to leave the doubt behind_

 _take my hand cuz you and I are gonna shine_

Finley began to dance alongside Hoshi. She matched his movements carefully. She stayed in time to the beat. Pretty soon the duo was in perfect sync.

 _It was cold in the dark_

 _it was empty in my life_

 _from the outside, it looked so bright_

 _but nothing felt right to me_

 _like a sky with no sun_

 _like a night that has no day_

 _my heart was eclipsed by the dark_

 _then something changed_

Hoshi pulled Finley close to him. He had her place her arms around his body. He continued to dance with her. His eyes locked with hers. A slow blush spread across her face. She smirked slightly.

 _I saw a little ray of light come through_

 _the tiniest of spark came into view_

 _and then_

 _you made me hope again_

 _I've been watching you helping you_

 _wishing that you'd see_

 _that the girl you've been waiting for so long could be me_

Hoshi spun Finley around. He then pulled her close to him again. Finley rested her hands on her shoulders. Her cheeks were burning. She continued to blush at him nervously. Hoshi picked up on this and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.

 _now-I've never been in love_

 _but I think this it_

 _it might just be a school girl crush_

 _but I have to admit_

 _I wanna take a chance and make you see_

 _that you're the one who'll rescue me_

 _this time_

 _you're finally gonna see you should be mine_

Hoshi then lets go of Finley's hand as Winter and Hoshi's siblings began dancing with them. Hoshi still danced by Finley's side. They managed to get a huge dance line going on the dance floor.

 _But baby it's time to make up your mind_

 _I think that tonight is when our stars align_

 _Honey, it's time to leave the doubt behind_

 _Take my hand cuz you and I are gonna_

 _Light the sky until it's dawn and_

 _Baby you and I are gonna shine_

Everyone started to cheer and clap once the song ended. Finley leaned on Hoshi tiredly. She saw a different light in his eyes down. He seemed very happy with what just happened. Finley turned to notice Mandy staring at the two of them. There was a small, black haired boy standing with her. Finley tilted her head to the side. Mandy just looked away. Finley shouldered Hoshi gently. "hey, what's her deal?" Hoshi just shrugged. "don't know." He took Finley's hand. "come on, we need to clear the dance floor."

Anika handed a disc over to the DJ. "put this one." she instructed. Sam and Elvis stood in the center of the dance floor. They locked eyes with one another. The song "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" began to play. Sam took the first step. Elvis soon followed suit. The two of them began to match each other's pace. Sam watched as a slow blush appeared on Elvis' face. "what's the matter?" he asked. "I get nervous or shy when I have to dance," whispered Elvis. He lowered his voice so the rest of the room couldn't hear him. Sam just shook his head lightly. "you're doing fine love. Just keep up with me." The two of them continued to dance with each other. Sam smiled as the lighting from the room brought out Elvis' looks. He pulled Elvis close to him. "Rydych yn fy myd." he whispered in his ear. "ac rydych yn fy bydysawd." murmured Elvis. The two of them went in for a kiss as the song ended.

The party lasted long into the early hours of the night. Sam and Elvis walked out to their car. Sam held the door open for Elvis. Elvis thanked him before climbing in. Sam closed the door and walked over to the driver's side. He got in closing the door. He smiled at Elvis. "I hope you enjoy where I'm taking you." Elvis looked at him. "where are we going?" he questioned. "it's a nice place in the Bahamas." Sam drove away from the Grand Hall.

 _ **I hope you guys have been enjoying the story thus far. If you have please feel free to add this to your favorites. Also, make sure to leave some feedback. Each comment gets read and accounted for when I make these sorts of things.**_

 _ **Also, why don't you check out my other stories? They are also things.**_

 _ **I will see you guys in the next chapter**_

 _ **peace**_

 _ **-G**_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Leon yawned. He leaned against his mother's chest. Penny laid Leon down in his bed. "good night." she kissed the top of his head. "Night mom." Leon turned over onto his side and fell asleep. Penny turned out the light on the way out. She went off to her bedroom. She stripped down to her tank top and shorts. Ellie knocked on the door. "you realize you don't need to knock right?" Ellie smiled. "I was just trying to be polite." She joined Penny on the bed. She cuddled up to her. "what a day." sighed Penny tiredly. "I could sleep for a whole week." Ellie stole a kiss from her. "I'm sure you could." Penny laid down on under the sheets. She felt Ellie rest her head on her shoulder. "Just think, some day that might be us getting married." Penny chuckled softly. "I just hope isn't as chaotic as the boys' was." Penny reached over and turned out the lamp. She put her phone on the charger. "I hope Finley gets home soon." thought Penny as she drifted off to sleep.

Finley and Hoshi were up on one of the rooftops. Hoshi leaned back on his hands. "you still haven't told me what Mandy's deal was." commented Finley. Hoshi just sighed. "we had a falling-out and now she's mad at me. The kid standing next to her is my son." Finley nodded. "do you get to see him?" Hoshi didn't answer her question instead, he changed the subject. "Have you ever wanted to get out of here?" Finley shrugged. "yeah but then again I have my sister to take care of." The two of them sat in silence. "we'd better start heading home." Hoshi got to his feet. He dropped down from the rooftops. "see you around Finley." Finley snuck into her sister's house. She carefully closed the front door behind her. She made her way over to her room. She took off her robes letting them fall to the floor. She then fell face first into her bed.

 _"Sam!" shouted Charlie. Sam heard his brother calling for him. A shadow landed behind Charlie. "Charlie! Look out!" Sam lunged forward. He changed forms in mid-air. Blue flames erupted out of his fangs. The shadow pulled Charlie close to it. Sam roared landing on the shadow's shoulder. He brought his fangs down on top of it. The shadow released a poison into Sam's mouth causing him to gag. The shadow then slammed Sam's head against the pavement. Sam watched in horror as his brother got murdered in front of him._

Sam snapped awake. He placed a hand on his chest. Elvis stirred from his sleep. "Sam?" Sam placed his face in his hands. "is everything okay?" Sam nodded. "yeah. Everything is fine. Just go back to sleep." Sam got up from the bed. He grabbed his coat. "I'm going for a walk."

The streets outside of the hotel were quiet. The moon cast an eerie glow over the semi-empty town. Sam tucked his hands into his night air felt cold. The winter months were starting to settle in. A small fog rolled out of his mouth. He sat down on one of the benches outside. The dream he had slowly faded from the far corners of his mind. He decided to shake off the dream as just stress from starting his new life with Elvis. He headed back to the hotel room. Elvis was already asleep. Sam climbed into bed and hugged him from behind. Elvis leaned up against Sam's chest.

The next morning came...

Hoshi slid down the railing. He landed on his feet once he hit the bottom. "I'm heading out. Bye, mom." Bronwyn turned around. "just a minute, Hoshizora. Where do you think you're going?" Bronwyn put her hands on her hips. "work. I've got a huge shift at the shipping company to do." Bronwyn sighed. "and then I've got to work the afternoon shift at the Ocean Rescue Center but that's only if I can get the shipment unloaded by Twelve." Hoshi caught the piece of toast Bronwyn was cooking as it popped out of the toaster. He began to walk out. "see ya later." The cafe door closed behind him. Bronwyn watched as his jeep pulled away from the cafe.

Charlie came downstairs. "Charlie, I'm beginning to worry about Hoshi. He hasn't had a vacation since he first came back. I'm worried that he may be overworking himself." Charlie hugged his wife. "don't worry about Hoshi, love. I'm sure he's doing okay." Bronwyn kissed Charlie's chin. "I hope you're right. Would you like some breakfast?" Charlie nodded. The two of them sat down at the table to eat. Charlie noticed that the house was rather quiet. "where are the kids?" he asked. "James is up at the fire station training with Arnold and Sarah is away in Cardiff for a week," replied Bronwyn. Charlie chuckled. "so we have the house to ourselves then?" Bronwyn nodded. Charlie leaned in closer. "good." He smiled slightly at her. He stole a kiss from her cheek. Bronwyn smiled and pushed him away. "eat first." The two of them went upstairs. Charlie pulled Bronwyn into a warm embrace. He kissed her neck. Bronwyn leaned into his touch. She shivered feeling him kiss down her neck. "can we not do it standing up?" Charlie glanced up at her. "yes dear." He took her hand. They walked into the bedroom. Charlie closed the door behind him.

Hoshi pulled up outside of Penny's house. He knocked on the front door. "coming!" he heard a voice shout. Finley answered the door. "oh hey, Hoshi." Hoshi grinned at her. "hey Fin. Mind if I hang out here today? I thought I had work but it turns out I'm off for another few weeks. I do have work later on this afternoon though." Finley stood aside so he could enter. "no. Not at all." Hoshi strolled into her house. "man, this place is tiny. I don't know how you can stand to live here." Finley giggled quietly. "I could say the same to you." Hoshi placed a hand over his heart in fake hurt. "ouch." He sat down on the couch. Finley sat with him. "so, what do you feel like doing? We could go to Newtown and visit that small knife shop I was talking about or we could just chill here." Finley shrugged. "I don't care what we do." Hoshi looked around. "Leo around?" Finley shook her head. "he's with Penny and Ellie this morning. Leon wanted to help out around the fire station." Hoshi leaned back. "wanting to be just like his mum, eh?" Finley rested her head on his shoulder. "you could say that." Hoshi looked at her. "well if you are going to go to Newtown, get changed. You still haven't changed out of your robes from last night." Finley blushed. "I guess I was really tired last night." she got up from the couch and headed upstairs.

Hoshi waited for Finley out in the jeep. He reached and turned his radio on. Some Hip-Hop instrumentals began to play. Finley met up with him outside. She recoiled her mouth in disgust. She then proceeded to change stations. Hoshi moved her hand away from the dial. "woman, don't change the channel. You leave my radio alone." Finley held up her hands. Hoshi changed it back. "what's wrong with a little Hip-Hop?" he asked. Finley just shrugged. "not my taste." Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "okay wise guy, what taste in music do you have?" Finley pulled out her phone. She hooked it up to the Bluetooth in his jeep. She found the album she was looking for. "Magic" by the Mystery Skulls began playing. Hoshi nodded. "aight. You've got a taste. EDM mixed with a little Indie Pop not bad." Finley smiled. "glad I could compromise with you." Hoshi pulled away from Penny's house. He gunned the engine as they reached the outskirts of town.

Finley looked up at Hoshi. "are you and Mandy still a thing?" Hoshi chuckled nervously. "really? Three minutes of silence and that's the first question you are going to ask? To answer your question, yeah, we were but then we broke up." Finley raised an eyebrow. "why?" Hoshi lifted up the palms of his hands. "does it matter? Just some stupid shit is all." Finley lowered her gaze. "besides I'm not the dating type. I've never really had luck with either gender." added Hoshi hoping that Finley would just drop the subject already. "oh." muttered Finley. "I mean if I did take up dating again I would love to date a girl who has taste in music. Mandy kept listening to that boy band shit all the time. Not going to lie, I was about ready to fucking jump off the nearest cliff." Finley laughed. "You gotta get where you're going." sang Hoshi off-key. "fucking hell." The two of them sat in silence for a while. "so you like girls with tastes?" Hoshi nodded. Finley looked out the window. "I'll keep that in mind."

The bell above the knife shop door opened. A man about 6 foot tall loomed over the counter. "welcome to the Silver Dragon. See anything that interests you?" he asks. Finley looks around. "we're just looking." the man smiles. "well if ya find anything ya like just holler for me. My name is Bo." Finley nodded. Bo disappears off into the back of the shop. Finley goes over to one of the counters. Hoshi splits off from her. "Finley!" Finley turns around. He spots Hoshi holding a katana. He holds it above his head. "Ryuji no ken wo kurea!" he shouts. He starts waving the katana around. Finley giggles. "okay Genji, calm down." Hoshi sheaths the katana. He then bows in front of Finley before taking his stance. He found some ninja stars. He ran around the shop pretending to fire them. Finley stops him. "you better put those back." Hoshi smiles. He puts the items he had away. Finley found two of the wooden training swords hanging on the wall. She takes those down. She hands one to Hoshi. Hoshi grins. "unguard!" The two of them began to sword fight in the store. They keep this up until Finley knocks the sword out of his hand. "alright! I yield!" she laughs. She puts the sword away. Finley goes over to another counter where some hunting knives were on display. She spotted a hunting knife that had blades shaped like leaves. She pointed to it. Hoshi looked over her shoulder. "looks nice." Finley nodded. Hoshi checks the time on his phone. "let's go and get some lunch. I saw this really cool sandwich shop down the street we should try."

The sun hung high in the sky. Hoshi sat on the hood of his jeep with Finley. He passed her a sandwich. Finley began to unwrap it. She took a bit of it. Hoshi looked down at his sandwich. "these taste like ass." Finley giggled. "that's putting it lightly." Hoshi sighed. "I guess I should have checked the reviews. Sorry Fin." Finley touched his shoulder. "it's fine. It's better than nothing." Hoshi and Finley finish having lunch. Luckily, the freshly baked cookies they got saved lunch. Hoshi leaned back on his hands. "shame I have to work today. I actually kind of like hanging out with you." Finley stared at him. "Kind of?" Hoshi chuckled. "I'm kidding. I like hanging out with you." Finley looked away slightly. "that's what I thought."

Another vehicle came flying into the parking lot. It missed Hoshi's front bumper by mere inches. Hoshi watched as they pulled into a parking space right in front of him. "way to park like a douche bag, dumbass!" shouted Hoshi. Finley touched his arm. "we'd better get back to PontyPandy." Hoshi slid down from the hood. He held back the urge to go over and kick the other driver's ass.

Hoshi and Finley arrived in PontyPandy a half-hour before Hoshi needed to be on shift. Hoshi looked down at his phone. "that's weird. I know I was scheduled to work today." He showed Finley. "but it says here I have today off." Hoshi got out of the jeep. "I'd better check in with Ben."

Ben waited for Hoshi in the Ocean Rescue Center. He hadn't seen his apprentice since the day they parted ways. Hoshi walked in. "Hey, boss. I noticed that I'm scheduled to have a day off. I thought I was working." "well, your mother came in here recently and recommended that I give you the next few weeks off. You've been working awfully long shifts as of late, Hoshi." Hoshi sighed. "I know. I know." Ben hugged him. "it's for the best. Go on."

Hoshi left the Ocean Rescue Center. "I have the next few weeks off. Don't know what I'm going to be doing though." Finley could hear the disappointed tone in Hoshi's voice. "chin up. A few weeks of rest isn't bad." she comforted. Hoshi scratched behind his head. "come on. Let's head back to my place and hang out for a while."

 _"Sam!"_

 _Sam woke up to the sound of his brother's cries. "Sam!" Sam ran out into the streets. His beloved town was on fire. The skies above were a blood red. An assassin had his brother hostage. "No!" Sam changed forms quickly. He charged right for the assassin. The assassin raised his sword. His brother was cut down before he even had a chance to land an attack._

Sam bolted upright in bed. He panted holding his chest. He jumped feeling someone's hand on his arm. Elvis looked up at him worriedly. He saw some of the color return to Sam's face. "it's just you." Elvis nodded. "yeah, it's just me. Are you okay?" Sam moved his hand away from his chest. "I'm fine. I just had a really bad nightmare. Nothing to worry about." Sam tossed the blankets back. The both of them had arrived in Florida. They still had one more flight to get on before they could get to their destination. Sam already wasn't looking forward to having to drive through morning traffic. Sam changed into his casual clothes. Elvis walked out the bathroom. "aww I missed seeing you naked." Sam chuckled. "you will get to see me in the nude soon enough."

The drive from the hotel to the airport wasn't bad. There were a few questionable drivers on the road. They managed to board their flight in a timely fashion. Sam let out a small sigh. "here comes more waiting." Elvis cuddled against Sam. Sam rested his arm around him.

 _ **Just some friendly reminders...**_

 _ **1.) please do not beg for updates. I caught someone on one of my other stories begging for updates. Please do not do that. I know you hate waiting but I update on my own terms.**_

 _ **2.) Just like with Cars and Whisper: Please do not suggest ideas that are not canon to the current timeline I am writing. If you suggest an idea that has nothing to do with predicting an outcome to this story, it may affect the timeline in a horrible way.**_

 _ **3.) Please leave criticism and feedback. Do not try to white knight for me if someone sounded harsh. I will deal with them in private.**_

 _ **4.) I am going to give you guys this final warning: This story does contain some dark themes, homosexuality, and many other things. If you choose to ignore this disclaimer, then you have no one but yourself to blame. I warned you.**_

 _ **read/review**_

 _ **and I will see you guys in the next chapter**_

 _ **-G**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

Sam and Elvis' flight from Florida to the Bahamas lasted an hour. They arrived at Nassau airport. Sam grabbed their bags as they came off the carousel. He phoned for an uber to come and collect them. Sam stood in the waiting area with Elvis. "so where will we be staying, Sam?" asked Elvis. Sam looked down at the card he had in his hand. "they call it the One and Only Ocean Club." replied Sam. Elvis tilted his head to the side. "that's a strange name for an Ocean Club." Sam chuckled. He held his husband close. Sam's phone buzzed in his pocket. "that's our cue." A silver Jetta was parked outside. The driver looked up in his rearview mirror. "where am I takin' Ya?" Sam handed the driver his card. "I know where that place is. It's a nice country club. You must have some serious money if you are going to be staying there." Sam chuckled. "not really. No. I'm a small town firefighter. It's called knowing the right people."

Elvis looked out the window. He smiled. "It's like being back home except there's more to see," he commented. Sam nodded. Palm trees loomed over the top of the Jetta. "you'll really start to love it here. I'm glad you picked this city to have your honeymoon." The driver parked outside of a nice looking two-story building. Sam got out of the car first. He went over to the trunk and opened it. He grabbed both of their bags out of the car. Elvis got out and stretched his legs. He bade the driver farewell as they pulled away.

The inside of the club was nice. The check-in counter stood in the middle of the lobby with a waiting area off to the right. There was an elevator behind the counter that leads up the top floor. There was another room just off to the left. Sam walked up to the counter. He got the keys to their room. "we're up on the second floor."

Their room was at the end of the hallway. It was a rather nice suite with a dining room off to the right and the kitchen area behind it. There was a large living room area in the center of the suite. Their bedroom was off to the left. "wow." gasped Elvis. "this place is huge." Sam hugged Elvis from behind. "only the best of my love." Elvis leaned against him. "it's wonderful, love. Thank you." Sam lets Elvis go so he could check the place out. Elvis felt the top of the couch with his finger. It felt soft to the touch. He headed into the bedroom. He pushed open the two double doors. A queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room with a nightstand next to it. There was a TV hanging on the wall in front of the bed. They had a bathroom off to the left. Elvis sat on the edge of the bed. He kicked his shoes off before leaning back on the bed. He sighed tiredly. He decided to take a small nap.

Hoshi realized how late it was. He checked his phone. "well shit. I better get home." he got to his feet. Finley grabbed his hand. "you aren't going to stay?" Hoshi shook his head. "I have to get home or else my mother is going to have a cow." Finley pouted at him. "Don't give me that look." he pulled his hand free of her grasp. "I'll be back tomorrow. You'll have me for quite some time." Finley nodded slowly. He lifted her chin up. "thanks for keeping me company today." he gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "see you tomorrow." he left Finley blushing. She smiled. Hoshi drove back home. He sighed tiredly. He sat out in the jeep for a little while. He looked down at his wrist. _Two weeks._ was written on it in pen. Hoshi looked back out the window. He laid his head against the glass.

Hoshi walked inside. He heard the TV on upstairs. "I'm home!" he called. Bronwyn was in the living room with Charlie who was out cold next to her. He immediately woke up when he heard Hoshi walk into the room. "hey." greeted Hoshi. Bronwyn hugged her son. "welcome home. Are you hungry?" Hoshi shook his head. "I ate while I was with Finley. I think I'll turn in now. Night." Bronwyn let go of Hoshi. Charlie touched her shoulder. "he seems sad about something." she whispered. "he's probably tired." Charlie kissed Bronwyn's cheek gently. "give him some space. We can talk to him about it in the morning." Hoshi flopped down in bed. He let his arm fall onto the pillow above his head. He laid awake for a while before finally going off to sleep.

Ellie and Penny came home with Leon sleeping in Penny's arms. Ellie giggled quietly. "he's all tuckered out." Penny smiled. "I know." she carried Leon upstairs. She laid him down in her bed tucking him in. She tiptoed out of his room. Penny then went to check on Finley. Finley was just settling down for the night. Penny knocked on her door. "Fin? Knock-Knock?" Finley opened the door for her sister. "hey." Finley turned to face her. "hey." Finley sat down on the bed. "I just came to check up on you. I didn't realize you were heading off to bed." murmured Penny. "how was your day?" Finley smiled. "it was great. Hoshi and I hung out together. He took me by the Silver Dragon Knife Shop in Newtown." "Cool. I'm glad to see that the two of you are getting along. Can you watch Leon for me tomorrow? Chief Fire Officer Boyce is supposed to be taking over for Sam. I just don't want Leo to get snapped at for being at the fire station." Finley nodded. "Sure." Penny got up. "night." Penny left her sister to sleep.

Sam and Elvis were out on the beach. They were walking hand in hand down the beach. Elvis had his acoustic guitar strapped to his back. He planned on playing music while they had their picnic. The sun hung high in the sky. The heat was dulled out by the ocean breeze. Sam and Elvis sat near the rocks. Elvis pulled out his guitar. He began playing. " Goodbye, my Santa Monica dream. Fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wine. You tell me stories of the sea. And the ones you left behind. Goodbye to the roses on your street. Goodbye to the paintings on your wall. Goodbye to the children we'll never meet. And the ones we left behind. And the ones we left behind." Sam listened to Elvis sing. " I'm somewhere, you're somewhere. I'm nowhere, you're nowhere. You're somewhere, You're somewhere. I could go there but I don't." Sam smiled. He got lunch sorted for the both of them. Elvis stopped playing guitar. He set it on the rock behind him. "new song?" asked Sam. Elvis nodded. "It's a song I heard from one of the games that Hoshi was playing. Figured I would practice singing it." Sam moved closer to him. "well it was wonderful, Elvis."

The two of them ate in silence. Elvis soon broke the silence. "it's so nice here. The ocean breeze feels nice. The atmosphere here is relaxing. The people are very friendly." Sam wrapped an arm around Elvis drawing him in. "best of all, I can get to spend time with you without any interference from Kora and Buck. Not saying Kora is going to come back, she's dead." Sam kissed the top of Elvis' head. Elvis leaned up against Sam. He enjoyed being his company. "I don't have anything planned for us tonight. How about we just have a quiet evening indoors?" suggested Sam. "sure. Did you want me to cook dinner for us?" asked Elvis. As much as Sam loved Elvis, the thought of him cooking didn't sit well with him. "how about I cook?" he suggested. "okay."

The sun started to set on the horizon. The light turned the water a light orange color. Sam stood in the kitchen watching the sun set. He heard Elvis playing his guitar again. Sam let out a small sigh. He turned his attention to the dish he was cooking. " I see a mountain at my gates. I see it more and more each day. What I give, it takes away. Whether I go or when I stay." sang Elvis. Sam knew this son. It was one of the few songs by the Foals that Sam liked. "Hoshi has everyone addicted to that band," muttered Sam under his breath. Sam finished cooking. "dinner's done." Elvis set his guitar down. He walked over to the dining room table. He sat right across from Sam. He picked up on the tortillas which had some blackened shrimp on it. He took a bite of it. He nodded his head slightly. "and?" asked Sam. " it's good, Sam." Sam smiled. "I'm glad you enjoy it." Sam wasn't too bad at cooking. He'd like to think he knew enough about food to survive. "Sam, I thought about starting a family once we got back." Sam stopped eating for a second. "you sure? Kids are a lot of work. Plus we both have jobs that keep us busy." Elvis sighed. "I know." He looked out the window. Sam placed his hand on Elvis' shoulder. "I didn't say that to discourage you, Elvis. I'm sure that we'll work out how to take care of our kids along with maintaining our busy schedules. I had that thought too. Trust me." Elvis touched his hand. He smiled slightly. He looked back at Sam. The two finished eating. Elvis went back into the living room while Sam washed the dishes.

Sam joined Elvis in the living room after a while. They sat watching TV. Sam wrapped an arm around Elvis. He felt his phone buzz quietly in his pocket. It was a text from Anika.

 **Hey, kiddo-**

 **Just wanted to see if you had made it to Nassau safely. Been thinking of you. Give me a text back when you get a chance**

 **\- Anika**

Sam unlocked his phone. He began to text back.

 **Anika-**

 **Elvis and I made it to Nassau in one piece. We just had an exciting day together and are just now hanging out in the suite. The Ocean Club is rather nice. I can't believe that I was able to afford it. These places are expensive. Elvis seems to really be enjoying himself.**

 **\- Samuel**

He set his phone down next to him. After about fifteen minutes, his phone buzzed again.

 **Samuel-**

 **Pictures?**

 **-Anika**

Sam shook his head. He gently elbowed Elvis. Elvis glared at him. "Anika wants a picture of us doing something." Elvis rested his head on Sam's chest. He stuck his tongue out as Sam snapped the picture. He eyed Elvis. "boy." Elvis only giggled. Sam sent that picture on top of the ones he had of them at the beach. He set his phone back down again. Anika replied five minutes later.

 **Samuel-**

 **Awwww, look at my boys acting cute. I'm glad the two of you are behaving yourselves. It's hard to believe that the both of you are grown up. I'm such a proud mother.**

 **-Anika**

 **Anika-**

 **Haha very funny. Let me remind you that the both of us are adults. It must be nearly midnight, what are you doing up?**

 **-Samuel**

 **Samuel-**

 **I'm getting ready to check out. I just wanted to check up on you. Can't a mother do that? Anyway, I know you and Elvis are all grown up. Have fun. Keep me posted.**

 **-Anika**

 **Anika-**

 **I will. Good night.**

Sam laid his phone on the table. He shifted downwards so Elvis could rest his head on him. They stayed up for a couple of hours before heading off to bed. Sam changed into his night clothes which consisted of just a pair of shorts. He laid on his side sighing. Elvis held him from behind. Sam listened to the sound of Elvis snoring. He laid awake for several moments before falling asleep himself.

Hoshi struggled in his sleep. He panted and bolted upright in bed. He placed his face in his hands. He quickly took out a pen from the top drawer of his nightstand. He started to write something on his arm. _Life is short and the older you get, the more you feel it. Indeed, the shorter it is. People lose their capacity to walk, run, travel, think, and experience life. I realize how important it is to use the time I have. - Viggo Mortensen._ Hoshi tossed the pen back into the drawer. He gave the ink time to dry before laying his arm back down again. Whenever he had a nightmare, he would write a quote on his arm. He figured that was safer than actually cutting himself. He tossed the blankets back. He planted his feet on the cold, hardwood floor.

The sun had not yet risen outside. The ambient light given off by the clouds made things a little easier to see. Hoshi walked along the parts of the beach that were not covered up by the tide. He tucked his hands into his pockets. He had his earbuds in his ears.

 _This is a song about somebody else_

 _So don't worry yourself, worry yourself_

 _Devil's right there right there in the details_

 _And you don't wanna hurt yourself, hurt yourself_

 _Looking too closely_

 _Looking too closely_

 _No, no, no, no!_

Hoshi thought back to the dream he had earlier. He sighed to himself. He knew that the dream was about a past mistake he had made.

 _Put your arms around somebody else_

 _Don't punish yourself, punish yourself_

 _Truth is like blood underneath your fingernails_

 _And you don't wanna hurt yourself, hurt yourself_

 _Looking too closely_

 _Looking too closely_

 _No, no, no, no!_

 _no, no, no, no!_

Hoshi sat up on one of the rocks. He continued to listen to his music. He enjoyed coming out here during the early morning hours when it wasn't so hot. He liked the dark atmosphere the clouds gave off. The atmosphere on top of the music gave off calming vibes. Hoshi leaned back on his hands. His music was interrupted by a quick text from Finley.

 **Hoshi-**

 **Hey. I was wondering if you were up yet.**

 **-Finley**

 **Finley-**

 **Yeah, I might be. What's up?**

 **-Hoshi**

 **Hoshi-**

 **I just woke up all of a sudden and now I can't fall back to sleep. Wanna hang out?**

 **\- Finley**

 **Finley-**

 **Yeah, I'm at the beach. You'll have to use your flashlight to find me though. The sun isn't out yet. 3 see you when you get here.**

Hoshi took his earbuds out of his ears. He tucked his phone back into his pocket. He waited for Finley to show up.

Finley put on her cloak once she was outside. The ocean breeze blew through her hair. She shivered gently. She made her way over to the beach. She found Hoshi sitting on one of the rocks facing out towards the ocean. She climbs up next to him. "you picked a hell of a place to sit." she commented. "eh." Hoshi moves one of his hands out of the way for her. "So, what brings a half-breed like you out here this time of day?" questions Finley. "bad dreams. Stupid life decisions that I could have avoided but didn't. You know all the over thinking bullshit that people who have anxiety suffer from." retorted Hoshi lightly. Finley leaned against him. "sorry to hear that." Hoshi showed her his arm. "I write quotes on my arm whenever I have a bad dream. It's better than marking it up with scars." Finley shined her flashlight on his arm. She began reading off some of the quotes:

 _Part of my act is meant to shake you up. It looks like I'm being funny, but I'm reminding you of other things. Life is tough, darling. Life is hard. And we better laugh at everything; otherwise, we're going down the tube- Joan Rivers_

 _I know a place where I can go when I'm low down. To your house, down to your house, I will go when I'm low. -Foals, Total Life Forever_

 _No, I could not stand to be alone for long. There's something missing in the ever after glow. You were better than whatever came before without you here to save me, to save me from the dark - Foals, After Glow_

"why are every one of the quotes on your arm deep?" Hoshi lowers his arm. "they hold more truth to them than light ones." He looked up at the sky. "I over think a lot okay? I just can't help it. I question everything little thing that I do. I know I don't seem like the type of guy who does thinking but I am." Finley looked up at him. "I wasn't judging you for it. I understand." Hoshi shifted a bit. "I've had dreams about leaving this town. Going somewhere far away. Journeying to some place where I can have an experience. I'm not getting much of that by staying here." He slides down the rock. He offers her his hand. "where would you go?" she asks as she takes it. She slides down the rock with him. "dunno. Wherever the wind takes me." he holds her hand gently. "would you like an assassin to keep you company?" he chuckles. "would you want to come with me?" She nods. "alright. It's a deal then."

 _ **Hey, guys, it's G here and I want to just get some friendly reminders out there:**_

 _ **1.) do not make usernames out of my OCS names, please.**_

 _ **2.) Please feel free to leave me feedback. Don't just tell me you love it and then not why you love it or what I could do to improve.**_

 _ **3.) Please, for the love of god, DO NOT suggest story ideas that are not CANON to the current timeline that I am writing. I don't want to have to warn you of the negative consequences that come with manipulating the timeline for personal gain.**_

 _ **4.) as always I hope you guys enjoy. Please do not review my story if you only came to see Penny and Sam together. I DO NOT support the pairing. Never have. Never will.**_

 _ **5.) Requests are for friends only.**_

 _ **Read/Review**_

 _ **\- G**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Okay so quick disclaimer before I begin. I realize that I'm five chapters in and you probably already know the disclaimer already. In case you happen to have lost a brain cell or fell asleep at some point allow me to put them on the screen for you.**_

 _ **1.) this story does deal with homosexuality. I know that there are some of you guys out there that are not comfortable with homosexuality and that's okay. I hope you will enjoy the story anyway.**_

 _ **2.) This story does have a lot of voilence towards the later chapters. Please do not read further if you suffer from any one of these known phobias:**_

 _ **Hemophobia- Fear of blood**_

 _ **Thanatophobia- Fear of death**_

 _ **3.) There are some sex scenes in this story. I'm talking about the one you are about to see as of right now.**_

 _ **4.) This story has deals with some rather touchy or dark themes like depression, suicide, etc. If you find it offensive that I would write about those sorts of themes, then why are you reading it? I care not if you choose to be offended. You chose to ignore the disclaimer and now you have to deal with the consequence.**_

 _ **You have been warned. I DO NOT want to hear that there was no disclaimer or warning that scenes were going to happen. I personally find having to place disclaimers stupid. You guys should be adult enough to know what the hell you are getting yourselves into. I was kind enough to leave a second disclaimer in this story for you. Do not expect me to remind you of the consequences.**_

 _ **-G**_

Chapter Five:

Sam was woken up in the middle of the night by a nightmare. He sighed laying awake. Elvis was still asleep next to him. Sam carefully got out of bed. He went out onto the balcony. The moon hung low over the top of the water. Sam let the ocean breeze clear his head. He leaned on the railing. _I really should talk to Anika about these nightmares. They've been happening ever since the fight I had with Kora. Maybe she has an idea as to what they mean._ A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Sam. "watcha doin' Sammy?" asked Elvis muffedly. "I needed some air. I had another nightmare." Sam felt Elvis yawn. "can those nightmares wait? I want my husband in bed more." Sam chuckled. He turned around. Elvis rubbed his eyes. He leaned forward to kiss Sam. Sam pulled him close gripping the railing with one arm. Elvis ran his hands up Sam's chest. Sam touched his hands. "what do you think your doing?" Elvis smiles. "oh you know." Sam lowered Elvis' hands. His eyes shined dangerously in the dark. He kissed Elvis again. The two of them backed into the room. Elvis slid Sam's shirt past his shoulders. Sam hummed. He pushed Elvis against the dark. He kissed down his neck. Elvis moaned. He felt Sam pin his arms down his sides. Sam stopped at the center of Elvis' neck. His fangs came out. Elvis arched his neck backwards. He knew where this was going. Sam sank his fangs into Elvis' neck. Elvis winced. Sam released a poison into Elvis' body. The poison would bind the two together. Sam pulled away. "whenever you are in trouble, sad, or scared, I will now be able to feel it. Just like how you will be able to feel my emotions. I've created a spiritual bond between us." Elvis nodded.

Elvis laid back on the bed. Sam got on top of him. He ran his hands down Elvis' sides. Elvis moaned. He wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. Sam lowered Elvis' boxers. Sam kissed the top of his hips. He got close to Elvis' crotch and stopped. Elvis twitched impatiently. "damn it Samuel! Quit teasing!" protested Elvis. Sam chuckled quietly. "you aren't aroused enough for me to have any real fun." He got close to Elvis' face. "how about I fix that? hm?" Sam's voice got all low and sexy. His accent started to really come out. Elvis shivered. "what do you plan on doing with me?" Sam lifted up his chin. He held Elvis' hands up on to the headboard. He kept them there using a bit of his own magic. Blue mist formed around Elvis' wrists. Elvis blushed madly. Sam parted Elvis' legs. "there, now you can't escape me." Sam sat on his knees. "what to do. What to do." He grinned. He then licked his lips. He bent forward again this time trailing his lips down Elvis' neck. He moved his hand into the waistband of Elvis' boxers. He began rubbing his hand up and down Elvis' shaft. Elvis moaned quietly. Sam bit down on Elvis' neck again this time releasing a lust poison into him. Elvis closed his eyes. He leaned his head back. Sam pulled Elvis close to him with his other arm. He rocked his hips against the top of Elvis' legs earning him another moan. Elvis started to get harden up. Sam kept rubbing his shaft. "Sam...Rhowch fi." begged Elvis. Sam smiled. He looked up at him. "Not yet." Elvis groaned. "Dechreuaf ichi." Sam kept rubbing Elvis' shaft feeling how close he was. He started to pick up the pace. "Samuel." moaned Elvis. He climaxed into Sam's hand. Sam licked it clean.

Sam finished undressing himself. He then pulled Elvis' boxers all the way off. He kissed Elvis gently. Elvis slid his tongue across Sam's. Sam moaned quietly. He pushed his hips close to Elvis'. He slowly entered him. "let me know if I'm getting too rough." Elvis nodded. Sam started to rock his hips. Elvis leaned back. He kept pace with Sam. The two of them soon climaxed together. Sam let Elvis go. Elvis laid onto his side exhausted. Sam cuddled up to him. "good night love." he whispers. "night Sam." whispers Elvis.

Meanwhile

Winter was sweeping the floor of the shop. He offered to help his mother out during the day time. He knew his step brother, Norman, wasn't going to do it. The bell above the door began to chime. "we're closed. Come back in a couple of hours." calls Winter over his shoulder. "Good morning to you too, Winter." mutters Anika. Winter sets the broom down. "oh hey Anika. Sorry. I got tangled up in my chores." Anika smiles. "no problem. I came to check up on you. I know we haven't really had a chance to talk since Elvis and Sam got married." Winter held up his hand. "it's no problem. I understand that you have a duty to perform. Tell you what. I'm almost finished. I can talk then."

Winter finishes sweeping the floor of the shop. He heads out to meet Anika on the street corner. He offers her his arm. Anika kindly accepts his offer. "I have to say that between you and your brother, you have to be the nicer one of the two." Winter chuckles. "well one of us has to not make mom look bad. She tries her best. It's tough taking care of two rugrats when your a single mom. I'm sure deep down that Norman loves her. He just still hasn't grown out of that stubborn teenager phase yet." Anika nods. "where to?" asks Winter. "my house." Winter nods. He follows her to her house.

Anika lived on the outskirts of PontyPandy, up near the mountains. There was a waterfall right next to her house. Anika unlocked the front door for the both of them. Winter holds it open for her letting her enter first. He closes the door behind them. Anika's house was a single story building. The doorway lead out into the living room. Anika had pictures of Sam and Charlie when they were both younger on mantel. Winter picked one of them up. "you have lots of pictures of these two." Anika smiles. "yep. I took care of the boys once their mother died. I guess you could say that I was their mother. Charlie went off on his own once he got older as did Sam. I'm glad that I got to see them both again." Winter got to one of a ginger haired woman holding both Charlie and Sam in her arms. There was also a blonde-haired man standing with the ginger-haired woman. "I take it this is Sam and Charlie's real parents?" Anika looks over his shoulder. "well one of his real mother and step-father. Charlie's mother passed away when he was younger. His father remarried to Sam's mother. The two boys were inseperable ever since." Winter places the picture back on the mantel. He sits down on the couch. Anika sits with him.

Winter soon gets a small fire going for them. "I figured I would use this time to get caught up with you." murmurs Anika. Winter chuckles. "I don't know how much catching up you plan on doing with me. There really isn't that much to tell. Life just went back to normal after the fight we had with Kora. I'm maintaining the shop with my mom during the day." He leans back. "she's thought about giving me ownership of the place. I'm not sure I'm ready for the responsibility just yet." "I'm sure you'll do fine." comforted Anika. "if anyone can run it, it's you." Winter smiles at her.

The two of them talk well into the noon hours. Winter then gets up to fix lunch for the two of them. "what's it like being a hunter?" Anika looks at him. "well to be honest, it feels like you living with a curse. Sometimes it has it's rewards but it also has it's list of drawbacks. I was real worried when I first became one but then I found out as long as I don't make the House angry, I won't have a problem." Winter hands her a cup of tea. "The House?" "The House of the Moon is the governing body of the Hunter Clan. They basically keep us in line. None of them have Hunter's blood but they possess unique talents of their own. The House Leader is named Taniks. With as much fuss as Kora gave us, I'm surprised that Taniks or the House hasn't come to visit." explains Anika. Winter shrugs. "aren't them showing up kind of a bad thing in a way? It's like having the FBI at your doorstep." Anika takes a sip of her tea. "sometimes. I'm grateful that they didn't then it would have interfered with my investigation on Buck Douglas. I'm still mad that bastard for getting away and what he had done to Elvis and Sam." she snaps lightly.

A few miles away in Ireland.

A blonde haired female comes walking into Buck's room. "Mr. Douglas?" Buck turns around slowly in his chair. "Layla darling, how nice of you to show up!" he crooned. He leans forward in his chair a bit. Layla sets a cup of a tea down on his desk. "here's the cup of tea you ordered." she murmurs. "excellent." Buck turns back around again. "I think I may have hit a breakthrough in this little plan of mine." he smiles down at his work. "what sort of plan are you working on now, Mr. Douglas?" asks Layla. "you see Layla, have you ever thought of creating an artificial Hunter?" Layla shakes her head. "well I've come up with a way of creating one. I'll just have to pull a few strings here and there." Buck lowers his pen. "I wonder how that blue haired beauty and his overprotectived fire boy friend are getting about." "I heard that they had gotten married." Buck laughs. "well isn't that something? I should have sent them a present." Layla places a hand on his shoulder. "do you still hate them?" He shakes his head. "no. Hatred is something that I don't care to hold onto anymore. You see Layla, why have enemies when you can friends?" Layla smiles. She kindly steps away from him. "are there any further tasks you wish for me to do?" "none at the moment. I'll be sure to call for you when I need for you to do something. Oh wait, I take that back. Can you please head to the Farmer's Market? We're kind of out of things to eat." Layla nods. "of course."

Layla leaves the house. Her long fox tail stuck out behind her. The people here were not disturbed by Layla's appearance seeing as there were others like her. Layla kept the umbrella over her head. The skies were darkened by the clouds. Layla figured she would stop by an indoor market. She went over the list of things they would need. The bell above the market door chimed as she enters. She grabs a basket off the counter. "let's see, I need to get the eggs first then I need to get a bottle of wine for Mr. Douglas." She grabs a carton of eggs from the dairy section. There were two people standing across from her. Her ears perked under her hood as she listens in on them. "too bad that Douglas guy isn't doing his show anymore. Not since the whole incident in PontyPandy." "Yeah, I kind of like learning about hunters. I didn't care too much for the aliens though." Layla shakes her head lightly in amusement.

It started to rain as she left the market. She tucks the bag underneath her cloak to keep it dry. She started to beat herself up internally for not bringing an umbrella. Buck waited for Layla downstairs. Layla walks into the house soaking wet. "Layla darling, you are all wet. Why didn't you bring an umbrella with you?" he questions. "I kind of forgot, Mr. Douglas." she fluffs her tail out. She sets the bag on the counter. "I bought the items you asked for." Buck nods. "the next task I have for you is to head upstairs and get dried off then I want you to relax for a little while. You've done a remarkable job today." Layla bows. "as you wish, Mr. Douglas." Layla started to head upstairs when Buck stops her. "oh and Layla, please call me Buck. There is no need to be formal when you are in my house." Layla bows again. She heads off upstairs.

Sam's alarm started to go off. He slides his finger across the screen tiredly. He sniffs sitting up. Elvis was still asleep next to him. Sam smiles to himself. He slides out of bed. He changes into a dark blue T-shirt and black shorts. The shirt had the PontyPandy service logo on the front and the words: PONTYPANDY FIRE BRIGADE on the back. He sits down in the living room. He turns the TV on but turns down the volume. A newscast came on covering the riots in the US.

 _Over the weekend, Charlottesville became the site of an extended white-supremacist revival meeting. On Friday night, like a nightmarish graduation procession, a few hundred white supremacists marched with torches down the long green lawn that leads to Rotunda, the University of Virginina's signature building. They chanted Nazi slogans in the open, undisguised, unafraid of being photographed, proud to be seen. They attacked a group of student counter protestors._

Sam sighed softly. "humans can be the most vile creatures on the planet. Why must we live in a world filled with hate?" He changes the channel. He didn't want to watch anymore of the news coverage. He settled on watching a movie instead.

Elvis came out into the living room. He spotted Sam on the couch. Elvis had only a pair of shorts on. "I feel under dressed." he mutters. Sam chuckles. He takes his shirt off. He lays it across the back of the couch. He pats the cushion next to him. "Elvis, come here." He beckons him with his finger. Elvis sits next to him. Sam wraps an arm around him. He kisses the top of his head. Elvis blushes madly. He feels Sam's muscular chest. "god you've gotten buff since the last time we fought Kora." Sam nods. "well I have to be strong enough to kick her ass somehow." Elvis rests his head on Sam's chest. "what's the plan today?" He feels Sam shrug. "I don't know. I didn't really plan anything for today." Elvis grinned. He looked up at Sam. "good." He kissed under Sam's jaw. Sam let out a soft purr. He laid with Elvis on top of him. He began kissing him long and slow. Elvis ran his hands over Sam's chest. He slid his tongue across Sam's. Sam groaned softly. He let Elvis do anything he wanted to him. He was going to be Elvis' plaything for a while. Elvis kissed down Sam's jaw. He traced his jawline with his lips. His hands then went down to Sam's shorts. He began sliding them down. He ran a hand down his boxers rubbing him gently. Sam let out a soft groan. He refrained from pinning Elvis onto his back. This made his tiefling growl in annoyance. It wanted to despartly break from its chains.

Elvis slid Sam's shorts right off of him. He tossed them onto the floor. He kissed the top of his hips. He groped Sam between the legs gently. Sam twitched. He pushed Elvis down. He got on top of him kissing him. He did the same to Elvis before sitting on his legs. "drat!" Elvis crosses his arms. "I wanted to be the dominate one." Sam leans in close to his face. "don't think so, sweetheart." Elvis blushes. He turns over onto his stomach. He feels Sam mount him. He winces as Sam slides into him. "comfortable?" asks Sam. Elvis gives a nod of his head. Sam steals another kiss from Elvis. He begins to rock his hips slowly. Elvis keeps pace with Sam. He wraps his arms around Sam's neck. Sam pulls him closer. He grips the back of the couch to steady himself. He picked up the pace. Elvis groans loudly. He digs his nails into the pillow. He lets out another moan as he climaxes. He feels Sam shoot a load into him before pulling out. The two of them lay next to each other on the couch. Elvis buries his face into Sam's bare chest. Sam holds him close. "I really don't look forward to having to explain the stain on the couch." whispers Sam. "don't worry. I'll be sure to get something strong enough to clean it up." whispers Elvis back. He kisses Sam on the cheek. "we don't have to tell them that we had sex on the couch." Sam ruffles his hair. "Sounds like a plan to me." The two of them settled down for a nap.

Sam woke up to the sound of his phone going off in the next room. He lets out a small groan of annoyance before getting up to deal with it. He puts his shorts back on ignoring his boxers for a moment. He stalks off into the bedroom and snatches his phone off the table.

 **Sam: hello?**

 **?: hello Samuel. Glad to hear your voice again. How are you and that blue haired friend of yours doing?**

 **-Sam rolls his eyes-**

 **Sam: what do you want Buck?**

 **Buck: Oh nothing. I just wanted to catch up with you. I heard from my assistant that you were getting married. Shame I couldn't be there. I would have given you guys a present. Listen, perhaps we started off on the wrong foot?**

 **Sam: if by "wrong foot" you mean locking me up in a cage and then lying to Elvis.**

 **Buck: Oh come on now, Samuel. You know that I was under the influence of your sister. I thought you were an easy going guy. Maybe you could forgive a mistake?**

 **-Sam lowers the phone from his ear for just a second-**

 **Sam: I'll let it go just this once but if I ever catch you trying to hurt my family or Elvis again, it'll be your head that rolls next.**

 **Buck: yes sir. I can assure you that nothing like that will ever happen again. Say Samuel when you've got a moment, how about you and I meet somewhere? I'm getting ready to head to Nassau myself. I need a break away from the office. Me and my assistant shall meet you guys at one of the bars in town. Do try to be on time.**

 **Sam: alright. Don't pull anything funny.**

 **Buck: (laughs) I don't plan to. You have a lovely rest of your day. Talk soon.**

 **-Buck hangs up-**

Sam puts his phone back on the table. "the fact that the bastard knew my number makes me suspicious. I'd better keep my guard up."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

-Three days go by-

Buck arrives in Nassau with Layla. Sam and Elvis met them at one of the bars in town, as promised. Elvis kept his hand in Sam's. "Fireman Sam! Over here!" Buck holds up his hand. He motions for Sam to come over to their table. He smiles once they come closer. "take a seat." Elvis looks at Sam who makes a small gesture with his head. Elvis sits down first. "are you not going to sit down?" asks Buck. "I will once I make sure you aren't up to any trouble." replies Sam with a firm tone in his voice. "I can assure you that I am not up to anything. I just want to try and fix a few loose ends between us." Sam sits down slowly. Layla smiles at the both of them. "have you guys met my lovely assistant, Layla?" Layla offers Sam her hand. Sam shakes it politely. "I have heard many great things about you." She flicks her tail in amusement. "mostly from welsh sailors." Sam chuckles quietly. She then offers her hand to Elvis. Elvis shakes it nervously. "Layla is in charge of making sure my house doesn't fall apart when I'm gone. I must say, she's rather good at her job." Layla blushes. She looks away. "you flatter too much, Mr. Douglas." Buck returns his attention back to Sam and Elvis. "how are things back in PontyPandy? Is the family doing well?" he asks hoping to ease the tension a little bit. "my family is fine. Things are starting to get better for them." replies Sam. Buck smiles. "well I'm glad. How is your nephew, Hoshi?" Sam raises an eyebrow. "he's doing okay. He's been dealing with a few issues here and there but he seems to be handling them just fine." Buck nods. "good. Good." The four of them sit in silence for a little bit before Layla breaks it. "I heard you were a hunter, Sam. What exactly is a hunter?" Sam looks at her. "our kind is in charge of hunting demons or was. There really isn't much use for us anymore. Most of us either hid away our abilities or just vanished altogether. We still have the House that keeps us in line." Layla smiles. "how long have you and Elvis been together?" Sam starts to ease up a bit. "we've been together for as long as I've been in the fire service."

Buck notices a change in Sam's demeanor. Sam cast a glare in Buck's direction. Buck only smiled at him. He could sense that Sam does not trust him enough yet. Buck checks the time. "oh my would you look at the time? We'd better get going for the night, eh Layla?" Layla nods politely. Buck and Layla get up from the table. Sam shook Buck's hand politely. Layla bids the two of them farewell before following Buck out of the bar. Sam and Elvis then leave the bar as well. "I still don't trust him," whispers Sam. Elvis wraps his arms around Sam. "it'll take a lot more than talk if he ever wants to make things up with us."

Sam and Elvis head back to their hotel room. Sam changes into his night clothes. Elvis hugs him from behind. Elvis lays back with Sam on top of him. The two of them begin to kiss on top of the sheets. Sam rolls over pinning Elvis down underneath him. He begins to kiss down his neck. Elvis moans quietly holding Sam close.

Three weeks go by...

It was the last day of Sam and Elvis' honeymoon. Elvis started to experience episodes of extreme pain. He shook it off as just the effects of them having sex for the past three weeks. Elvis decided that they should spend their final day inside seeing as their flight didn't arrive until the night hours. Elvis winced slightly. "are you sure you're okay?" asked Sam worriedly. "yeah. I'm just fine. Just a cramp is all." replies Elvis. Sam wraps an arm around his waist. He pulls Elvis close. He still wanted Elvis to get checked out. He feared that he may have been too rough with Elvis. Sam turns on the TV. The newscasts were covering more of the riots in the US. Sam rolls his eyes. He quickly changes the channel. Elvis cuddles up to him. He found a concert that was being broadcasted. The Mystery Skulls were playing down by the beach. Elvis lets out a happy sigh. Sam smiles. "what?" "Nothing. I'm just happy to be in your arms." Elvis looks up at him. Sam kisses him gently. "what did you want to do for lunch?" Elvis just shrugs. "I'm down for anything." Sam pulls out his phone. "let's see there's a Daiquiri Shack up on Casino Drive, Viola's Bar & Grill, There's Bimini Road up on the Marina." Elvis ponders for a minute. "Why don't we check out the Bimini Road?" Sam nods. "okay." He gets up from the couch to go get changed.

The Marina was rather quiet that afternoon. Sam held Elvis' hand in his. A small yellow and white house greeted the two of them. Above the porch hung the restaurant's sign. There was a long table outside of the restaurant. Sam held the door open for Elvis. The host looked up at them. "Hello and welcome to Bimini Road, just the two of you?" she asks. Sam nods. The host puts their information into the system before seating them. The inside of the restaurant was buzzing with life. Elvis could smell the meat being cooked in the kitchen. The inside of the restaurant had an island theme to it. The Host sat them down in a booth. She handed them each a menu. "your server will be right with you." Elvis opens up the menu. "god there are so many choices." he commented. A black-haired man with tanned skin walked up to the two of them. "good afternoon Gentlemen, my name is Keoni and I will be your server today. Can I start you two off with something to drink?" Sam looks up at him. "tea for the both of us, please." Keoni writes down their drink order. He politely steps away from the table. "it's a shame that we have to go back to PontyPandy." murmurs Elvis. "I know, Elvis but Chief Fire Officer Boyce can only cover me for so long." Sam felt his heart drop. Being the new station officer felt more like a punishment than an actual accomplishment. Holding the title was bittersweet. Elvis held Sam's hand. He squeezes it gently. Keoni comes back with their tea. He takes out his notepad. "have you two decided on what you want to get?" Sam motions for Elvis to go first. "I'll have the Chipotle." Keoni nods. He writes it down. He then looks at Sam. Sam didn't have a clue as to what he wanted. Keoni senses this and looks over his shoulder. He points to an item on the menu. "my personal favorite is the Chicken BLT." Sam nods. "alright, I'll have that then." Keoni smiles and jots it down. He picks up their menus. "I'll be right back."

Elvis keeps his hold on Sam's hand. "I didn't know you liked spicy things." Elvis shrugs. "I don't normally eat them but I was craving it for some reason." Sam chuckles quietly. "well I guess your stomach wanted to try something new before we left. The Bahamas is a wonderful place to try different foods." The two of them sit in silence as they waited. Elvis hummed to himself quietly. He couldn't help but glance at Sam every couple of minutes. He looked rather handsome in the dimmed lighting. The light really brought out the blueness in his eyes. Keoni came back with their food. He carefully set the tray down on the tray holder. He set their sandwiches down in front of them. "I'll be back with your checks. Before I go, did any of you need me to refill your tea?" Sam checks his cup. He hands his cup to Keoni. Keoni sets it down on the tray. He then packs up and leaves the two of them to eat in peace. Elvis takes a bite of his sandwich. The chipotle sauce and taste of the meat mixed perfectly on his tongue. He hummed happily. He watched Sam eat his out of the corner of his eye. "I'm going to miss this." murmurs Sam. Elvis smiles. _If he thinks he misses decent food now, wait until we get home. I'll be able to dazzle him with my cooking skills. They've gotten a lot better. He won't have to worry about me burning things anymore._ Elvis took another bite of his sandwich. He frowns. _Strange. This tasted fine earlier. Perhaps it's just my nerves acting up? I've never had spicy food before._ Sam saw the expression change on Elvis' face. He cast a worried glance. Elvis places his sandwich down. He holds his stomach. _Now I feel sick. I'd better make it to the bathroom quickly. I don't want Sam to worry._ Elvis casts Sam a reassuring smile. He gets up from the table and runs off into the bathroom.

Keoni comes back to the table. He takes Sam's empty plate up. "the sandwich was good." Keoni smiles. "I'm glad but did your friend enjoy his?" "Yeah. He's just in the bathroom. Speaking of which, I'd better go check up on him." Keoni nods. "I'll be right back with your check." Sam walks off to find Elvis. He let his vision change slightly. Everything in the room turned a dark blue. There were flecks of yellow in his vision indicating body heat. Elvis' was the brightest. His vision changed back to normal. He walked into the bathroom. "Elvis?" he calls softly. " the last stall," calls Elvis back. Sam walks up to the door. "you okay?" He hears the toilet flush. Elvis steps out of the stall. "yeah. I think my anxiety flared up." He goes over to the sink to wash his hands. Sam stands on the wall behind him. Elvis heads back out into the dining room with him.

The sun slowly started to set outside. Elvis and Sam managed to have all of their stuff packed up. Sam checked the both of them out. He phoned for an uber to come and take them to the airport. Elvis shifted back and forth nervously. He leaned up against Sam who wrapped an arm around him. Their uber arrived to take them to the airport. It was a quiet drive all the way there. Sam walked up to the ticket counter leaving Elvis to wait in the waiting area. Elvis could feel his anxiety flare up again. He felt sick. He steadied his breathing. The queasiness dies down. Sam hugs him from behind. "it's time to go. At least this flight is only an hour-long. It's the flight from Florida to Cardiff that's going to take us a long time." Elvis nods. He leans against Sam's chest. "I hope I don't end up sick on the plane," he mutters.

They boarded their flight. Elvis sat close to the aisle in case he needed to make a break for the bathroom. Elvis rests his head against the back of the seat. He felt a sudden pain in his stomach. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.

Hoshi woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. He groaned quietly. He pressed the power button on his phone disabling it. He sits upright in bed. He sets his phone down on the table. He holds his head. He had slept on his side wrong but a cold feeling of dread crept up in his spine. _Two weeks._ came the voice in his head. He tossed the blankets back. A hard lump got caught in his throat. His mind suddenly started to cloud over. He headed downstairs. His parents were still upstairs asleep. The natural sounds around him were replaced by the sounds of his own heartbeat. He pushed open the door. He hadn't been keeping up with time. He walks out onto the beach. He sits down next to one of the rocks. He looks down at his arms. The words start to float from his skin. They spiral around him wrapping around his body with their arms. He could hear the voices crying out to him. Tears fall down his cheeks.

"Hey Hoshi!"

"Hoshi?"

"Hoshi?!"

Hoshi snaps out of his haze. Finley was leaning over the railing. "you okay?" Hoshi tries to speak. His tongue curls up preventing him from uttering words out loud. He stares directly at Finley. Finley carefully makes her way over to him. She saw how confused and sad he looked. She sat next to him. He holds himself. "what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Hoshi bites his tongue hesitating. "Finley..." She looks at him. He begins to sob. He gets up. He runs away from her. Finley reaches out for him only to retract her hand. "Hoshi."

The sun slowly started to come up more.

Charlie started to walk past the beach. He leaned over the railings. He spotted Finley just sitting there. "Ah, hoy Finley!" Finley looks up at him. "Hey, Charlie. Is everything okay at home?" she asks. "yeah, everything is fine. Why?" Finley stood up. "Hoshi just ran away from me. He was upset about something, Charlie. I just wondered if you guys had gotten into a fight or something." Charlie shakes his head. "do you know where he had run off to?" Finley pointed to the cliffs. "I'll send Ben to check up on him."

Hoshi sat near the edge of the cliffs. "two weeks." he whispers. "Hoshi!" calls a voice. Hoshi gulps painfully. He glances over his shoulder. Ben stood little ways from him. "there you are. Are you okay? Finley said you ran off." Hoshi looks down. He holds himself. Ben sits next to him. "I'm not okay. I've never been okay. I'm falling apart. I can't keep lying to myself. I can't keep telling myself everything is going to be okay." He grips his arms. Tears start to fall down his face. "I'm only screaming into the void. I'm only making the pain I feel worse. You ever know what it's like to fall apart sometimes, Ben? Insanity is everyone expecting you not to fall apart when you find out everything you believed in was a lie." Ben placed a hand on Hoshi's shoulder. He pulled him close. Hoshi sobbed into his neck. "Hoshi, it's okay. You're going to be okay. Just let it out. You don't need to hold it in anymore." Hoshi started to sob even more. He had been in pain for so long. Ben rubs his back. "I miss that little boy," whispers Hoshi. "She won't let me see him anymore. I wished...I wished I never had half-breed blood. I wished it never happened." Ben touches his cheek. "you can't wish away your heritage, Hoshi. Mandy is being a bitch. If you want to be in that boy's life, then you fight for your right to be in his life. You can't just sit by and let it happen."

The two of them sit on the cliffs watching the sunrise. Hoshi hugs his knees. He leans against his mentor's side. Ben rests an arm on him. "I'm here for you. I want you to know that. You don't have to face your demons alone." Hoshi nods. They continue to sit there for a while. "did you want to come to the Ocean Rescue Centre with me?" Hoshi nods. He carefully stands up. Hoshi follows Ben to the ORC. Finley was waiting outside. "Hoshi!" she runs into his arms. Hoshi stands there letting her hold him. "I was so worried about you. Are you okay? Did I say something that I shouldn't have?" Hoshi shakes his head slowly. "no. I just had some loose ends that crept up on me is all." He holds her close resting his head on her shoulder.

Hoshi leaned on the back of Titan. Finley stood next to him. Ben got to work on making tea for the three of them. "it's been very quiet in PontyPandy as of late. I think the entire town is trying to behave itself now that your Uncle is away." Hoshi nods. "though if it keeps it up I'm afraid we'll have to close our doors." Ben turns around. "let's hope not." Hoshi smirks slightly. "I mean we could always be fishermen." Ben shakes his head. "no offense to your father but I prefer to be where the action is." Hoshi places a hand over his chest in fake hurt. "Ouch." Finley giggles quietly. She was glad to see some of the old Hoshi surface again.

Hoshi sat down at the table just in time for Ben to hand him his tea. Hoshi sets it down. Ben offers some to Finley who politely accepts. "so what have you been up to, Finley?" Finley shrugs. "nothing as of late." Hoshi scoffs. "yeah right you tried to take my Play of the Game away inside of the Silver Dragon Knife Shop." Finley smiles at him. "only because you were going to hurt yourself and I didn't want you to shout "I need healing." " Hoshi threatens to get up. "muda! muda!" Finley sticks her tongue out at him.

"so what was wrong? What got you so upset?" asked Finley once her and Hoshi were outside. "The whole situation between me and Mandy. I just hate the fact that she's been keeping Gess away from me. She's doing it to spite me but it's making me more depressed the longer she keeps doing it for. I just snapped is all. I don't deserve to be happy." Finley eyes him. "are you kidding me?! Of course you do! Everyone deserves happiness at some point in their life! That bitch doesn't know what she's talking about. She's only using you because she's desperate for attention." Hoshi sighs. She touches his cheek. "you deserve to be happy, Hoshi. You deserve a lot in life. You work hard each and every day for what you have." He smiles at her. "thank you, Finley."


	7. Chapter 7

_**My dear friends, it fills me with such sadness to say that I have thus removed OneShot from the lineup. It has dawned on me that it's not my best work seeing as I really don't have an idea to work with in terms of that story. I will work hard to rewrite its timeline and be able to deliver you a better story. I have a few ideas in mind for what I want to do I'm just not sure how to execute it just yet. Please have some patience with me.**_

 _ **It's only natural to remove something that you don't feel is your best work. I'm sorry to anyone who did like it. The lack of feedback is starting to kill me a bit. I want to think of a new and fresh idea for it that hasn't been done before. I just need a little time.**_

 _ **-G**_

Chapter Seven:

 _Sam heard the sound of children's laughter in the fields behind him. He smiled. Something rustled in the wheat. Sam got down. He poised ready to pounce on whoever was around him. The laughter sounded again. Sam spotted flecks of ginger dancing through the stalks. One of the children paused to look at him. Her bright blue eyes stared into his. She smiled at him._

Sam and Elvis' flight from Florida to Cardiff was 12 hours long. Elvis gave his legs a big stretch once he got off the plane. He didn't feel as sick as he did when he first boarded the plane. The nausea died down. Sam grabbed their bags. "let's find a hotel to stay in tonight." suggested Sam. "I'm far too tired to be driving right now." Elvis nods. They checked into the hotel just a few blocks down from the airport. Sam flopped down on the bed tiredly. He rolled over onto his side. He felt Elvis cuddle up to him from behind. Elvis wasn't as tired as Sam was. He stayed by Sam's side until Sam fell asleep. Elvis then left the hotel room.

The water from the canal danced in the light that was given off by the nearby buildings. Dark shapes moved across the calm water. Passing ships disturbed the air with their fog horns. Elvis leaned against the railing. He watched the boats pass by him. He took in the fresh air around him. He was glad to be back home. He closed his eyes enjoying the breeze. He soon made his way back to the hotel room. He laid down next to Sam yawning. He cuddled into him and fell asleep.

The highway leading out of Cardiff was empty apart from the few cars that were on it. Countryside rolled past them. Sam looked out the windshield at the gathering clouds. "yep. I definitely didn't miss the weather here at all." he grumbled. "you would think for a small town by the ocean we would get more sunlight. Nope. Rain." Elvis giggled quietly. He turned the radio on. He set it on a low volume. The music helped ease the awkward silence. "how many days left until you are on duty again, Sam?" questions Elvis. "I get two more days of rest and then I have to be on duty. Boyce says that my new uniform is waiting for me at home. He's made sure that it's able to fit me correctly. He still can't believe that Station Officer Steele is gone." Elvis looks up at Sam. "should we visit his grave on the way home?" Sam sighs. "yeah. We should. It's been a while since I've paid him a visit."

Rain pelted the car heavily. Sam put the headlights on full beam so he could see. Newtown started to slowly show through the fog. They could make out the faint lights in the darkness. A blue sign with yellow, flashing lights shot past them. The sign read: IN THE EVENT OF SEVERE WEATHER TUNE INTO 161 in big, white letters. The streets of Newtown were full of people trying to get out of the rain. They were able to finally get out of Newtown. Sam leaned back in his seat. He had one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the door. The rain slowly started to let up once they were outside of Newtown. Sam just wanted to get home and out of the rain.

The rain died out at long last. Helen's house came into view as Sam drove past it. He knew they were almost home. The fog let up making the road easier to see. The fire station stood proudly on the hill in the distance. Sam pulled off down a service street. He parked the car. He helped Elvis out of the car. Station Officer Steele's grave sat at the foot of the hills. There were small red and white flowers laid on the cross which sat on his grave. Elvis and Sam stood in front of the grave. A painful lump formed in Sam's throat. He found it hard to get words out. Elvis sensed this. "hello Sir. Sam and I are back in one piece. We finally got married. We just came by to see you again after not being here for a while. It's been hard on the both of us seeing as you are no longer here with us." Sam looked away. "We'll make you proud, sir. We won't let you down." Elvis kissed Sam's cheek. "thank you for those kind words, Elvis." whispers Sam. He coughs politely into his hand. "we'd better get going."

Anika heard the sound of a car door slam outside. She got up from the couch. She peered in through the blinds to see both of her boys standing outside. She opens the door for them. "hello you two." she greets as she hugs the both of them. "I'm glad to see that the both of you made it back in one piece." Sam tosses his bag down. He stretches his arms. "did you have a nice time?" Elvis smiles. "yep. Shame we had to leave it though." Anika could tell that the both of them were tired. "you boys head upstairs and rest. I'll still be here by the time you get up again."

Sam changed into a pair of shorts. He didn't bother putting a shirt on. He climbed into bed with Elvis. Elvis laid on his side. He rubbed his stomach gently. "is it still bothering you?" Elvis nods. "yeah. I'm sure it's just from all the flying we've been doing. I'll let you know if it gets worse." Sam frowned. "you should probably have Helen take a look at it for you or you could always talk to Anika about it." Elvis sighs. "yeah I know." Elvis tucks the blanket around him. Sam watched as Elvis started to drift off.

 _Golden wheat stalks waved in front of him. He poked his head up above the stalks. The fields stretched for miles on either side of him. The soil felt damp underneath his paws. He ran through the field wanting to see how far it stretched out. Sam heard children's laughter just a few miles away from him. He paused suddenly. Something moved through the wheat in front of him. "wait!" he shouted. "come back!" He began to chase after it. The child kept running. Sam eventually picked up the pace only to watch as the child vanished suddenly. The child disappeared into a haze of black mist. The mist started to grow in numbers. The mist took on the form of dark colored pixels. Sam started to back up. He turned tail and ran off in the other direction. His breathing became labor as he tried to outrun the mist. The world around him broke down._

 _He looked up to see dark cracks forming in the sun. The sun shattered and exploded. The last of the light dimmed and Sam was surrounded by darkness._

Sam bolted upright in bed. He panted looking around. Elvis was still sleeping next to him. _I need to talk to Anika. I can't keep having these weird dreams._ He got out of bed and headed downstairs. Anika was sitting on the couch watching TV. She looks up at him. "I need to talk to you."

Anika listens intently as Sam explains his dreams to her. "I see. These seem like omens to me. Something that is hinting at a change in the near future as to what that change is, I'm not sure." Sam rubs his forehead. "how long have these dreams been going on for?" "they started to occur once Kora was sealed away. I started having these lucid dreams where good things happen but then it fades away into something bad. The only nightmare that's been coming back was the one about Charlie dying. I know he's safe and I know that will never happen but I can't help but feel that it will." Anika rubs his shoulder. "try not to think about it too much. They are just dreams after all. Hopefully, by you going back to work it should tire you out enough to where you won't have them anymore." Sam looks up at her. "I hope you're right."

An arrow whizzed through the air. Its golden tip struck the outside of the practice target that Finley had set up in the woods. The force was enough to knock the target off of the tree. Finley loaded her bow up with another arrow. She pulled back on the string. She tuned out the world around her as she concentrated on the target. She let go of the string. The arrow went whizzing through the air again. It missed the target she was aiming for. She cussed lightly under her breath as she went to load her bow up with another one. A shape landed behind her. Finley immediately spun around. She took aim at the figure behind her. The figure was wearing a red wolf mask which Finley immediately recognized. She backed away from him slowly. "you stay away from me you bastard!" she spat. She aimed at him again. Her hand shook. "You wouldn't shoot your own ally would you?" Finley slowly lowered the bow. "that's a good girl. I only came to check up on you." Finley snarled softly. "you are not my ally. You are the reason I'm messed up! I don't know why you are here but you need to leave!" she took aim at the figure again. The man tilted his head to the side. "you still hold onto the past, don't you? Clinging to it by a thread like it's the last vein of your existence. Oh, dear Finley, you have not changed at all." He leaned in closer. He pushed her bow down. He leaned into her ear. "you couldn't bring yourself to kill me even if you tried."

"Finley!"

Hoshi pushed his way through the bushes to find Finley standing there. She was pale. Her bow was pointed at the ground. The man that was talking to Finley earlier had vanished. "Fin?" Finley snapped out of her daze. She looked at Hoshi. "I'm okay I just got fatigued is all." she slung her bow over her shoulder. Hoshi offered her his arm. Finley wrapped her arms around it. "there's more rain on the way. I just didn't want you to get wet." explains Hoshi. "that's understandable. Thanks for showing some concern." Finley kisses his cheek. The two of them start to walk home together in silence.

Rain started to come down. Hoshi tossed his arm over Finley's head. He blocked the rain off her. He then held the cafe door open for her. Finley slides her cloak off once she's inside. The cafe felt warm. Hoshi and Finley head upstairs. Hoshi takes Finley to his room. Finley sits down on Hoshi's bed. He had posters of various things up on his wall. His laptop sat on the desk in front of his bed. His headset laid on top of the laptop. Hoshi sits next to Finley. He sits an inch away from her. "I know my room is a bit small. I didn't get the liberty of picking my own room." Finley holds his hand. "it's fine. So what do you do for fun while your parental units are lurking around?" Hoshi motions towards his laptop. "I mess around on the laptop. I have several games in my library that I like to play from time to time." "Oh, so you're a gamer huh?" Hoshi nods. "yeah. You could say that."

Hoshi laid back on the bed. The rain pattered against the window. Their shadows flickered on the wall. "I've been saving up for a house." says Hoshi after about a few moments of pure silence. "if I ever win the case against Mandy and I am able to see Gess again, I want to move him out to live with me. That way he can have a normal life. I know it's a long shot but I have to try right?" Hoshi stares at the ceiling lost in thought. "I nearly have enough to afford a nice place in Newtown. The house is two-stories. Gess can have his own room. I'll have one and you can have one if you want to. I'm not expecting you to leave your sister anytime soon." Finley moves closer to him. "I'll leave once I can confirm she'll be safe on her own. I know she's a grown woman but I can't help but be worried about her," adds Finley.

Meanwhile on the outside of Hoshi's room.

Sarah put the last of her items into a bag. James knocked on her door. "hey James." James leans against the door frame. "are you sure you have to go?" Sarah hugs her brother. "yeah. I've got to head to the airport first thing tomorrow morning. It's a shame that I won't be around when Uncle Sam and Elvis get here." James looked unsure. He really didn't want his sister to leave. Sarah smiled. "I'll be back before you know it." Sarah placed her bag right near the edge of her bed. "I just hope I have everything. This story could be huge." She sits down on her bed. "it'll be strange living so far away. I'll miss it here. Even though it will only be for a few months." Sarah noticed that James wasn't replying to her comments. She frowns. "I'll be okay, James. Tell you what. I'll video chat with you every week. Will that make you feel better?" James looked up at her. He nods. "good. Take care of mom and dad for me, okay? Make sure Hoshi stays out of trouble. We don't want the police showing up like last time."


	8. Chapter 8

_**I'm just going to place a disclaimer here that this following chapter contains sensitive and controversial material that may not be suitable for some readers. Please avoid reading if you are easily triggered by the following scene. It does touch up on a touchy subject.**_

Chapter Eight

Two days go by...

Sam stood in front of the bathroom mirror. He had on a Station Officer's uniform. His hand shook as he tried to fasten the tie to his neck. Elvis walked in wearing his station uniform. He stood behind Sam. He helped him with his tie. "nervous?" Sam nods. "you don't have to be." Sam gulped. Elvis moves back to admire his work. "you look handsome and very sharp." Elvis kisses Sam on the cheek. "so the question remains: do we call your Station Officer Sam or Station Officer Jones?" Sam chuckles. "well if you address me by my last name, I'll sound like my old man. I think I'll stick to my first name." Elvis smirks. "now that I think about it, your title spells S.O.S kind of like Station Officer Steele." Sam swipes at Elvis. "cheeky."

Arnold and Ellie were both at the fire station. They got to their feet once Sam walked into the room. They saluted him. "you guys didn't need to do that." Arnold lowered his hand. "well we have to show respect to our new Station Officer somehow." Elvis interjects. "It will take some time for Sam to adjust." Elvis went into the kitchen area of the lounge. He was starting to feel much better. He thought this to be strange seeing as just two days ago he wasn't doing well. He put a kettle of tea on for them.

Sam pushed open the door to the office. It had sat in silence since Steele passed away. Papers still sat on the edge of the desk. Sam turned on the Map Screen 2000. The screen flickered to life. The harddisk inside of the computer started to spin booting up the system. The map of PontyPandy appeared on the screen. "back in the saddle again." murmurs Sam as he sits down at the desk.

Penny arrived at the fire station. She clocked in for the day before heading upstairs. Ellie was sitting on the couch watching TV. "morning you three." greeted Penny. Ellie looks up. "hey Penny." Penny sits next to her. "where's the new Station Officer?" Arnold gestures towards the office. "I think he went off in there."

Sam heard a light knock at the door. "come in." Penny walks in. "Hey, Sam." Sam smiles at her. "morning Penny. What can I do for you today?" "Nothing at the moment. I just came to check up on you. Arnold said you'd be in here." Sam chuckled. "well where else would I be? I still have to sort through the paperwork that Station Officer Steele left behind." Penny could tell that Sam wasn't too happy about being put in this position. "I know you didn't ask for this. I know you are upset about this but it's for the best. Boyce wouldn't put anyone else in his shoes." Sam sighs. "I know. I know it just feels too bittersweet for me. I feel like I don't deserve this." Penny places her hand on his shoulder. "you do deserve it, Sam. I'm sure he would be telling you the same thing. Please don't blame yourself for what happened. He died protecting the ones he cared about." Penny gives him a one-armed hug before pulling away. "have you heard anything back yet from Hoshi?" she asked hoping to change the subject. "He's supposed to show up in Newtown Court today. I hope something good comes out of it. Custody disputes are a nasty thing to deal with."

The courtroom was packed with very few people including the jury. Charlie and Bronwyn sat as close to the front as possible. Hoshi sat up front with his lawyer. Mandy sat on the opposite with Gess and her lawyer. Hoshi felt a painful lump build up in his throat. He couldn't believe that he had to do this. He was willing to do anything to see his son again. _Don't worry Gess. Soon you and I will be together again._ Charlie looked over at Helen and Mike who were on the opposite side of the room. They looked over at Charlie. Charlie smiled sympathetically. Helen dipped her head at him to show that there were no hard feelings between them. "all rise. The honorable Judge McKenzie now presiding. Please be seated." McKenzie takes her place at the Judge's stand. "good morning." She got a small "good morning" back from the crowd. "we are here today for the hearing regarding custody over Gess Gekko-Flood, the son of Hoshizora Gekko-Jones and Mandy Flood. Ms. Flood currently holds custody over Gess but you, Mr. Jones, are seeking to have custody over Gess. Mr. Jones, Do you currently hold down a job?" Hoshi stands up. He makes eye contact with the judge. Nervousness showed in his eyes. "yes your honor, I do." McKenzie looks at him. "can I ask what position or positions you hold currently?" "I'm a Coast Guard and I'm a Newtown Warehouse worker, your honor." McKenzie nods. "Mr. Jones, what makes you a better parent than Ms. Flood?" Hoshi gulps. "I take after my adopted dad. I know what's best for my kid. I want him to be able to express himself and to have someone to talk to when he's unsure about something. I'm working day in and day out to provide for him. I love that little boy with all my heart." He looks at Gess. "I just want to be in my son's life. I conceived him at a very young age and I want to take responsibility." McKenzie looks down at the case files.

Charlie holds Bronwyn's hand. He leans in. "I hope the judge lets him see Gess. I really do." Bronwyn nods in agreement. "okay I turn the floor over to Ms. Flood. Ms. Flood, what makes Mr. Jones here an unsuitable parent for your child?" Mandy eyed Hoshi. Her stare darkened. "this man is a low-life, your honor. He claims to be working when he really isn't." Bronwyn gasps quietly. "He also has a criminal record that he failed to disclose to me when I first met him. I was not aware of it at the time." McKenzie pulls out Hoshi's criminal record. "I fear that he may be a bad influence on Gess given his past," Hoshi growls quietly. He bites his tongue to avoid saying something that he could regret. "let's talk about the night Mr. Jones wounded up in jail. Ms. Flood, you say that Mr. Jones assaulted you. Is that statement correct?" Mandy nods. "I caught him cheating that night, your honor. I was only trying to confront him but Hoshi wasn't going to take it lightly. I would have avoided calling the cops if he hadn't of attacked me." Charlie could see Hoshi's fist ball up. His knuckles turned white. Charlie looked at Helen. Helen raised an eyebrow at Charlie. Charlie got up. "If I may interject, your honor what Mandy has said is untrue. Hoshi's sister was visiting them that night. Norman Price was the one that pushed Hoshi to the brink of accidentally attacking Mandy." McKenzie looks at Mandy. "is his statement true, Ms. Flood?" Mandy shakes her head. "Hoshi's family is full of liars." That earned her a small gasp from her mother. McKenzie coughs into her hand. "I think this calls for a small break. We'll meet back here in about a half hour in which case I will have a decision made."

Hoshi paced back and forth outside of the courtroom. He tried to steady his breathing. He didn't want to end up going berserk. Bronwyn hugged her son gently. "she's lying." he rasped. "she really knows how to press my buttons." Bronwyn holds him close. "I know baby. I know. Helen and Mike were shocked as well." Hoshi looks at his mother worriedly. "I can't lose him. I don't want to lose him." Bronwyn strokes his cheek. "I know you don't just hang in there. It's not over yet." Charlie crosses his arms. He was deeply angered by Mandy's statement.

A half an hour goes by...

The atmosphere inside of the room quickly changed. It was so thick that you could just cut it with a knife. Hoshi stood at the front again. Sweat dripped down his face. "all rise! This courtroom is now in session." Everything started to happen in slow motion. Hoshi's heart slowed to a crawl in his chest. His tongue quickly dried up and curled blocking out any chance of him saying anything. "you may be seated." Hoshi sits down. He nearly falls out of the chair. His parents cast worried glances at each other. Hoshi gulps. He looks at Gess again. Gess stares at his father pleading silently with him. McKenzie eyes Hoshi and then Mandy before letting her gaze fall onto Hoshi again. "The court has decided to deny Mr. Jones custody and visitation of his child. Custody of Gess Gekko-Flood will remain with Ms. Flood and her family. This court has been adjourned."

Hoshi felt his world come crashing down. His eyes immediately begin to tear up. He gets up from his chair and walks out of the courtroom in a haste. _Not here. Not here._ He grits his fangs together. He couldn't let the others see him. He could feel his control starting to slip. The world started to stare at him. He pushed past other people. He ran out of the courthouse and down the street. Before long his world blurred.

Hoshi punched one of the trees in anger. He felt the bark snap underneath his fist. He kept punching it over and over again. He cried out in anger. He then slammed his forehead against the tree until he started to bleed. Blood dripped down his face. He started to shake as he slid down the tree. He curled up into a ball unable to breathe.

Charlie went off to find Hoshi. He knew he had to find him fast before something bad happened. He found Hoshi laying underneath one of the trees. Charlie knelt down next to him. Hoshi sniffed quietly. Charlie didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry." Hoshi looks at him. He sits up slowly. "Finley was wrong. I don't deserve happiness. I'm tired of trying to impress people. I'm tired of having to bend over backward for others. No more."

The drive back home was quiet. Finley waited for them at home. Hoshi pushes past her. He goes into his room and slams the door shut. "he lost the case." Finley saddened. "they denied him both visitation and custody." whispers Charlie. Finley wanted to comfort Hoshi. She knocks on his door only to be met by silence. "Hoshi?"

"Leave me alone! Go away!"

"Hoshi, please let me in."

She hears an animal-like growl come from behind the door followed by something crashing. "I SAID GO AWAY! YOU LIED TO ME! GET AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T WANT YOU HERE!" Tears formed in Finley's eyes. She heard sobs coming from behind the door. "you said I deserved happiness. Well, my happiness is gone! She took it from me! I'm done! I can't do this anymore!" Finley stood there in shock. Bronwyn places a hand on her shoulder. "give him time. He needs some space right now."

Rain started to fall outside.

Finley walked home alone in the rain. The rain reflected all the feelings she was experiencing right now. She stood in front of her sister's house. Hoshi's words rang through her head.

Hoshi stands near the window. He looks out at the world outside. A painful lump forms in his throat. He opens the window and jumps out it. He lands on the ground without a problem. He heads for PontyPandy Mountain. He climbs to the top of the mountain. All the anger and sadness he felt slowly starts to break down the wall that was holding it back. The air on top of the mountain was silent. The sun hung low on the horizon. Hoshi exhales softly. He walks toward the cliff. He feels the wind buffet him. He gets close to the edge letting the tip of his toes touch the ledge. He could make out the sharp pointed rocks down below him. He looks down letting a few tears fall. He takes a step letting his body relax. He starts to fall. Images of his past flash through his mind. He starts to remember his former parents. He smiles. He closes his eyes knowing that death was coming.

It was dark by the time Penny had returned home. She heard sobbing coming from the living room. "Fin?" Finley looks up at her. She sniffs softly. "what's the matter? What happened?" Finley moves away from her. She pushes Penny away before running upstairs. "Finley!" shouts Penny. She chases after her sister. She grabs her sister's arm. "Fin, what's the matter?" Finley sniffs. "I lied to Hoshi. He lost the case because of me." Penny pulled her sister into a hug. She strokes her hair gently. "it wasn't your fault. Hoshi is just saying things out of anger. Give him time. Why don't I go and talk to him?" she suggests. She nods.

The two of them swing by the cafe. Penny knocks on Hoshi's door. "Hoshi?" Silence greeted her. "Hoshi?" she opens the door a crack. Finley gasps seeing the claw marks that were on the wall. His desk laid in a smashed pile near the wall. His window hung open. "he isn't here." Penny frowns. "I better phone the station."

The alarms inside of the station started to go off. "Hoshi is missing! Last known location: The Wholefish Cafe. We'd better get Tom in on this." came Sam's voice over the PDA. Elvis slipped into his firefighting uniform. "we'll need Jupiter and Venus as well as Wallaby 2." He gets on his walkie. "Sam, I'm going to check along with coast with Ben and Arnold. Ellie can join Tom up in the helicopter." "Right you are Elvis." came Sam's over the radio. Elvis hops into Jupiter. Arnold climbs up into Jupiter with him.

Ben got Titan ready to go out onto the water. Elvis and Arnold soon arrive. "Arnold, you and Ben take Titan. I'll take Juno!" Elvis quickly rushes downstairs where Juno was. He climbs onto it revving the engine. Juno slides down the ramp and into the water. He turns on his searchlight. He meets up with Ben and Arnold outside. "you guys head South, I'll head North."

Penny heads back to the station. She was just about ready to change into her firefighting uniform when Sam stopped her. "I want you to take Mercury and meet up with Ellie in the mountains. You know the caves around PontyPandy Mountain better than anyone. In the meantime, I want everyone to stay in radio contact." Penny nods. "Rodger that Sam." She rushes over to Mercury. She then takes out a motorcycle from the storage box on the back of Mercury. She climbs onto Mercury revving the engine. The engine roared underneath her.

Ellie waited with Tom at the Mountain Rescue Center. Penny changed into her Mountain Rescue Uniform before joining them in the helicopter. Tom turned on the heat seeking scanner. "I hope Hoshi is okay," whispers Penny. She gets on the radio. "Sam, you'd better call Helen. Tell her to meet us up near the mountains. Hoshi could be injured." Sam comes back on the radio. "good thinking, Penny. Be careful out there. Out." Tom flies away from the Mountain Rescue Center.

They searched for what seemed like hours. Sam was starting to grow weary until he heard Penny's frantic voice come over the radio. "Sam, we've found him. He's badly injured but I've detected no pulse. Proceeding to airlift Hoshi to the hospital. Over." Sam feels a painful lump build up in his throat. "I'll let Bronwyn and Charlie know. Out." Sam called Charlie to tell him what happened.

Charlie takes Hoshi's jeep to Newtown. His heart beat frantically in his chest. His brother's first day back on the job and already tragedy strikes. He was grateful that Helen was able to help Hoshi. Bronwyn decided to wait back at the house with James.

Penny and the rest of the crew return to the fire station. Sam meets them in the lounge. "good work out there you guys. I'm glad we were able to find Hoshi but lord knows if he's going to pull through this. I'll be heading out early so those of you who have the night shift are more than welcome to start your shifts. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

 _ **Like I said, you guys were warned about the content that you would be reading. It is your responsibility to read the disclaimers.**_

 _ **read/review**_

 _ **Make sure to leave a helpful critique because it really helps.**_

 _ **Also be sure to read my other stories because they are also things and I will see you guys in the next chapter**_

 _ **-G**_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

A good week passes...

Hoshi managed to survive the fall but at the expense of having broken bones all in his left side. The doctors put Hoshi into a medically induced comatose. Finley came by to visit Hoshi in the hospital. She sits down in the chair quietly. Guilt plagued her heart. The machines Hoshi was hooked up to beeped quietly. A faint hiss came from the line attached to Hoshi's oxygen mask. His chest rose and fell with each breath. Finley watched Hoshi sleep. She gripped the arms of her chair tightly. She ached to touch his hand. She didn't want to. She didn't want to end up hurting him. Charlie knocks on the door. "hey." he whispers. Finley stays silent. Charlie sits by her. "none of this was your fault, Finley." Finley sniffs. "feels like it is. I lied to him. I told him that he deserved to be happy. I told him that things were going to get better and I guess I filled his head with false hope. He has every right to be angry with me." She holds herself. "Fin, he said all of those things out of anger. You know he doesn't mean that." Charlie rubs her back. "I hate Mandy. I hate her for what she's done to him." Finley's fist clenched. "I know you do. I bet he does too." Charlie holds Finley close.

Hoshi slowly starts to wake up as the sedative the doctors gave him wore off. He narrowed his eyes against the incoming light. He could no longer feel pain. A part of him felt really numb and distant from the real world. Voices called out to him. He was so numb and disoriented from reality that he couldn't hear them clearly. He felt someone touch his hand. His father was looking down at him. Hoshi opened his mouth only to close it as a thick wave of grief hit him. Charlie holds his son close. "shhh. You're okay now. I'm here." Charlie rubs Hoshi's back. He starts to hum to him quietly.

"so how long was I out?" questions Hoshi. "about a week. You fell from a great height. The doctor was worried that you may have done some damage to the brain so that's why you were in a coma." explains Charlie. Hoshi tries to search his memory but failed. "why did I fall?" Charlie frowns. "You were mountain climbing. The rope keeping you fastened to the cliff failed and you fell. Luckily, I was able to go back and get help." Finley interjected. "you nearly died on the way to the hospital." Hoshi rubs his forehead. "me falling from a high place doing a dumb thing, yep, that sounds like me alright." He smiled weakly at Finley. Finley looks at Charlie. Charlie understood why Finley lied to Hoshi. The past would inflict too much pain on him right now. "where's mom? Is she okay?" "she's at home with your brother. Your sister is in America right now doing stuff for her job. She's worried about you." replies Charlie. "no doubt about that." Hoshi sits up more in the bed. "sorry I scared you guys."

Hoshi's pain medications started to kick in. Hoshi fell asleep once more. Finley gets up. "I'd better get home. I promised Penny that I would watch over Leo while she was at work." Charlie nods. "take care."

Penny had just put on her work uniform when Finley arrived. "how's Hoshi?"

"He just woke up. He doesn't remember what happened to him though. I lied and told him that he had gone rock climbing only to have an accident."

"I see. You know he'll find out the truth eventually, right?"

Finley sighs. "yeah I know." she scratches her head. "I just didn't want him to go back into a coma."

Penny nods. She clips the last button on her shirt. "well just try to relax, okay? There is no sense in working yourself up." Penny grabs her keys off the table. "I'll be back." she hugs her sister one last time before leaving the house.

Sam pokes his head into the bedroom. "Elvis?" He hears an audible moan coming from the bed. "I'm going to work now. Call if you need anything. Okay?" Elvis nods weakly. Sam hesitates. He didn't want to leave Elvis by himself.

The day passes by like normal. The Fire Brigade would attend to a rescue and Sam would have to document it. Sam tucked the file away into one of the drawers in his desk. He leans against the desk tiredly. Penny came in with a cup of tea for him. "How's Hoshi doing?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything from Charlie yet. I'm surprised that he managed to survive a drop like that."

"Yeah, most people don't survive falls like that. I'm starting to think that he may have tried to commit suicide. There wasn't any equipment on him at the time. I thought about asking him when he's up."

"you may want to hold off on that. You don't want to risk him breaking down."

Penny sits down in one of the chairs. "Elvis is getting really sick. He needs to go to the doctor but I can't convince him to go." grumbles Sam. "it's like pulling teeth."

Penny giggles softly. "reminds me of somebody else I know." she winks at him.

Sam chuckles. "I don't like seeing the doctor either. I'm just worried about Elvis is all. I've never seen him this sick." Sam then thinks for a minute. "I'm going to take him to the hospital later when I get off shift."

Meanwhile,

Winter finished his jobs for the day. He wiped the sweat from his brow. He couldn't believe that the inside of the shop would be this hot considering how cloudy it was outside. He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "I managed to get everything finished before tea time." he smiled. "I should have my lunch in the hillsides today."

Winter packed his lunch and then headed out. It was rather humid outside. Winter found a nice place up on one of the hills. The hill overlooked the sheep fields. The sheep dotted the field in a cloudy white pattern. Winter took a bite of his sandwich. He noticed that the energy in the town seemed to change after the court case. This upset him greatly. The outcome started to cause problems for his family. Mandy brought Gess over to their house each night. Winter could tell that Gess wasn't happy with not being able to see his dad. This gave Winter an eye. He just needed help executing it.

 **Finley: hello?**

 **Winter: Hey Finley, I have a little job for you.**

 **Finley: Winter, I don't do assassinations anymore. You may want to find someone else who is willing to do that sort of work.**

 **Winter: I didn't call you looking for an assassin. I actually have a plan that might just work. I just needed someone who was a master of stealth to execute it with me.**

 **Finley: Well if it's stealth you want, I'm your girl**

 **Winter: glad I've gotten your attention. How do you feel about kidnapping someone for the good of others?**

 **Finley: depends on the target. Who do you have in mind?**

 **Winter: Mandy has been bringing Gess by my mother's shop every night since the court hearing. Almost as if she's parading him around for sport. How about we sink that little ship of hers?**

 **Finley: that's a crazy and an illegal idea, I love it! When are we going to do this?**

 **Winter: they'll be here during the late night hours. Make sure you are ready for extraction. Mandy usually keeps Gess locked up in a room while she's here. I'll do my best to keep them distracted.**

 **Finley: got it. Just stay out of sight okay? Leave kidnapping to the professionals.**

The day soon fades into night. Sam left Arnold and Penny to do their night shift. Elvis was downstairs asleep on the couch by the time Sam came home. "Elvis." Sam shakes Elvis' shoulder gently. "Hey, Elv. Wake up." Elvis groans quietly. He rubs his eyes. "I'm taking you to the hospital. You've been very sick as of late. I just want to make sure it's not the flu." Sam hands Elvis his jacket. Elvis puts his jacket on. He leans on Sam for support.

Sam takes Elvis to the hospital. The receptionist has them wait for fifteen minutes. "Elvis?" Sam helps Elvis stand up. The nurse takes them into a room. "Sam, would you mind waiting here? I'll need to take Elvis back to get an ultrasound done. We'll also need to run blood work on him too?" Sam nods. He sits down in the chair.

A couple of hours go by...

Elvis walks into the room with a doctor. "we'll have the results of you guys in a couple of days. From what you've been telling me, it sounds like you have some irritation going on in the lining of your stomach. I'll put you on a medication to see if that will help." Sam wraps an arm around Elvis. "which one of you guys is listed on his contact?" Sam held up his hand. "then we'll call you."

Finley arrived at Winter's house. The streets around the shop were dark. Finley put on her fox mask. She popped the latch on the attic window. She jumped down into the attic. She heard people talking below her. One of the voices sounded like a small child.

"mommy, why do I have to be here?"

"because Norman and I have some important things to discuss."

"Can I go and see daddy?"

"No, he isn't allowed to see you. Now stay here."

Finley listens as a set of footsteps move further down the hallway. Finley drops down into the hallway. She slaughters over to the door. Finley fishes a lock pick out off of her belt. She carefully picks the lock on the door. She pushes the door open.

Gess looks up. "hello?" A woman wearing a fox mask walks into his room. She picks him up gently. "where are you taking me?" The woman doesn't reply. She sets him on her back. She opens the window and climbs out onto the window sill outside. She quickly closes the window again. She tosses a grappling hook to the house in front of her. She swings across landing on the other side. She then climbs up and over the house before sitting on top of the roof. Gess stares at the woman in pure confusion. "you're safe now." she whispers.

Finley carries Gess to her sister's house. She knocks on the door. Penny puts down the book she was reading. She answers the door. "Fin?" Finley motions for her sister to keep quiet. She shoves her sister inside of the house suddenly. "is everything okay? Are you in some kind of trouble?" questions Penny. Finley carefully removes her cloak. Gess was sitting on her back. Penny then pales. She grabs her sister by the arm. "why would you do that?" she snaps.

"To help Hoshi...And probably because I'm still holding a grudge against Mandy's decision."

Penny shakes her head. "do you think Hoshi is going to be okay with this? You could get him into serious trouble!"

"I'm not going to get him into trouble. I promise."

Penny couldn't believe how ignorant her sister was being. "This is wrong! You can't just go kidnapping children! There's a process to this!" Finley just waved her sister off dismissively. "trust me. I'm doing it for her own good. Gess needs his father." Finley pushed past her sister. She got Gess settled into one of the guest bedrooms. "stay right here sweetie, I'll go get your dad."

Finley leaves to go pick up Hoshi. "stay here and take care of him." she tells her sister. "if Hoshi throws a bitch fit about this, I'm blaming this on you." warned Penny. Finley just shrugged and left the house.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Okay so I'm sorry for not updating. I've had a few things come up that I wasn't ready for. I just want to thank Mo for leaving a positive comment on my page. I really do appreciate it.**_

 _ **I'm going to make the final disclaimer that this story does twist off and becomes strange after a while. I wasn't sure how to write this kind of content into a story but I think I can manage it.**_

 _ **If you do not like what you are about to see, please do yourself a favor and click out of the tab you are in. Don't leave a review on my page that you don't like what I've posted. Like I said before, you KNEW what you were getting yourself into. My stories are infamous for being strange in nature. I take great pride in stepping out of my realm of comfort.**_

 _ **Again this story is a COLLAB! Please don't go onto Mo's page and post hateful comments.**_

 _ **Final notice before you read further. Those who post hateful comments on either page will be reported and asked to answer to me.**_

 _ **G**_

Chapter Ten:

Finley swung by the hospital. Hoshi still had a long way to go before he could go home. Hoshi heard a light knock at the door. "come in." Finley steps into the room. "Hey." Hoshi looks up at her. "ey." Finley sits on the edge of his bed. "How are you feeling?" she asks. "tired. They've got me on so many pain medications I'm surprised I'm not enrolled in a drug addicts' intervention already." Finley smiles. She was glad to hear some of his dry sense of humor come out. "I've got a surprise for you when you get home." Hoshi tilted his head to the side. "do you now? After the kind of week, I've had, I don't think anything is going to surprise me." Finley takes his hand in hers. "well I think you are going to love it anyway."

Hoshi and Finley sat in silence. "remember when I said that I wanted to leave? I've never wanted to leave so badly." Finley rubs the back of Hoshi's hand. "I just. Can't deal with this anymore. I'm tired of the drama. I'm tired of being told everything is okay when it's not." "can you at least stay for a couple of more days?" begs Finley. "why? There isn't anything left here for me. I'm better off trying to move on and restart again." argues Hoshi. "please." Hoshi sighs. "alright. I'll stay for a couple of days." She smiles. She gives him a small kiss on the cheek. "I'll see ya when you get home."

A couple of weeks' pass...

Hoshi is discharged from the hospital. The drive home was quiet. Hoshi stares out the window at the passing countryside. Charlie glances over at Hoshi every couple of seconds. "How are you feeling?" Hoshi shrugs. "so-so. Could be better. Won't know until the medications wear-off." Hoshi rests his head against the glass. He dreaded having to come back to PontyPandy. Losing the case left a bad taste in his mouth. He really didn't want to come back. The first few lights greeted them. "take me by Finley's. She said she had something for me." Charlie nods. He heads down a side road.

Finley heard a car pull up outside. She went over to her window. She saw Hoshi limping towards the house. She quickly made her way downstairs. She opens the door. She tosses her arms around his neck. He winces. He pats her back before pulling away. "alright. What did you get me?" he asks crossing his arms. She smiles. "close your eyes." Hoshi rolls his eyes but he closes them anyway. Finley fetches Gess from upstairs. "daddy!" Gess runs over to his dad. He jumps into his father's arms. Hoshi opens his eyes. Tears of joy blur his vision. "How?" He nuzzles his son happily. "my baby boy." Gess smiles. "Daddy!" he chants again. Hoshi holds him close. He didn't know what to say or how to express his gratitude. "I pulled a few strings to get you Gess with a little help from Winter." Hoshi hugs Finley. "thank you." He whispers. "You have no idea how much this means to me. I have been waiting to see him for ages. Thank you." Hoshi let Gess climb onto his back. Penny walks into the room. Finley beams at her. "see? I told you my plan would work."

"yeah but what you did is very illegal. You can't just go stealing children whether it happens to be for the right reason or not." Retorts Penny.

Finley then feels a bit of rage hit her. "What?! I was just trying to do the right thing!" she snaps. "well your version of "the right" thing could land you in prison! Have you thought about that?" Finley loomed over her sister. She was about ready to hit her. "so what? Are you going to rat me out to the police or some shit?" Penny crosses her arms. "if you keep this up, I might have to."

Finley shakes her head. "you know, your unbelievable. When dad left, who do you think busted us out of the foster care system? Who do you think got us away from an unloving foster family? Me?! I did! I'll be damned if I watch his family get torn apart by that bitch's greed. Now you're either with me or against me." Finley storms out of the house. Penny sighs. "I'll go talk to her." Hoshi sets Gess down on his feet. "you just stay here and watch Gess."

Finley sat up on top of one of the houses. Her hood covered her face. Hoshi manages to climb up next to her despite his injuries. "I don't think I've ever seen you get that pissed off before." Finley rolls her eyes. "please. I've said worse. I just hate seeing others in pain. I hate it when family members get selfish is all." The two of them fell silent. "I still have the option of leaving town out on the table. Now that I have Gess, there's no reason for me to stay in PontyPandy anymore. Why don't the three of us run off and be renegades together?" suggests Hoshi. Finley chuckles. "Sure. I like an adventure. Let's ditch this town." Hoshi wraps an arm around her waist. He pulls her close. Finley runs a hand down his chest. Hoshi starts to lean in. Finley closes her eyes and leans in as well. She feels his lips on hers. The skin on his lips felt soft. Hoshi runs his hands down her back as he kisses her. He removes her hood. Finley groans in reply. She pulls away. "we'd better get back." She whispers. She then rolls her eyes again. "No telling what kind of lecture I'm going to get when I get back."

Hoshi walked Finley back to her place. Penny had already gotten Gess settled into bed. She met her sister downstairs. "Finley." Finley glowers at her. "Penny." she mutters with an irritated tone in her voice. "I'm sorry for getting onto you about Gess. I know you were just trying to do the right thing. I just wished you wouldn't do things that were outside of the law." "Penny, sometimes as an assassin you have to work outside of your limits or else nothing gets done." Penny nods. Finley turns to Hoshi. "I'll see you tomorrow. Try to get some rest okay?" He smiles and kisses the top of her forehead.

Sam heard his cellphone go off. It was one of the doctors from Newtown Hospital.

 **Doctor: Good Evening, is Samuel Jones available?**

 **Sam: your talking to him**

 **Doctor: Elvis' lab test results came back. The results are quite baffling. I don't think I've ever had a case like this.**

 **Sam: well, what does it say?**

 **Doctor: Elvis is pregnant.**

 **-Sam goes quiet—**

 **Sam: come again?**

 **Doctor: According to the test results, Elvis is pregnant which is unnatural to say the least. Is Elvis a transgender by any chance?**

 **Sam: Ummm let's go with that. You wouldn't believe me if I told you doc. Anyway, thanks for telling me. I'll be sure to pass the message along. Bye.**

Sam hangs up the phone quickly. The color had drained away from his face. He quickly dials Anika's number.

 **Anika: hello?**

 **Sam: Anika, can I talk to you? Like now?**

 **Anika: Sure, what's up?**

 **Sam: well I just heard some rather disturbing news from the doctor. Care to explain to me how I got Elvis pregnant?**

 **\- Anika is silent -**

 **Anika: Remember that sex talk I had with you when you were younger?**

 **Sam: you mean the "talk that gave me nightmares for weeks" yes. Why?**

 **Anika: well…that may have something to do with it. I'll explain more when I get to the fire station.**

 **Sam: you better sing like a canary because you have a lot of explaining to do.**

Sam waited for Anika out in the lounge. Sam hears the front door slam and a set of boots come up the steps. Anika walks over to the couch and sits by Sam. "okay so I don't know how to explain this without sounding like a complete lunatic but here goes nothing. When a hunter chooses the one that they want to be with, they create a bond between them. The bond then places a reproductive replacement inside of their mate which allows them to have a baby." Sam started to look sick. "I know it's not the best explanation but I hope it helps." Sam sighs. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Elvis. He may faint if I try to tell him the news." Anika and Sam go back to the house. Sam wakes Elvis up. "I heard back from the hospital. They finally know the cause of what's been making you feel sick lately. I just don't know how to tell you it without you fainting so here it goes. Elvis, your pregnant." Elvis tilts his head to the side. "I'm what?" Sam gulps painfully. "you're pregnant and it's my fault. I didn't know my blood was capable of doing that." Elvis hugs Sam gently. "it's okay. We'll still take care of the baby regardless of whether it's yours or not." "so, you want to keep the baby?" asks Anika. Elvis nods. "yes. I want to keep the baby. Sam and I talked about having a family when we were on our honeymoon." Anika smiles. "Good on you. I'm glad to see that you two are thinking about the future. Right well…if I'm not needed here, I'm going to head home now. You two have fun."

Anika headed home. Before she did so, she decided to check up on Winter. Voices welled up through a crack in the shop door. "where's Gess, Winter?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't heard from him at all today. He might be still in his room."

Anika heard someone get slammed into the wall. She then hears the all-too-familiar sound of a bone breaking. "don't play daft with me?! You told someone, didn't you?!" Winter coughs up blood. "n-no. I didn't say anything." Norman kicks his brother again. "honestly Norman. I didn't say anything. No one knows about Gess being here." Norman backs away. "good. Let's keep it that way." Norman walks upstairs. Winter slowly gets to his feet. Anika walks in. She helps him to his feet. "what was that about?" Winter shrugs. "Gess is missing so Mandy is upset. Norman decided to beat the shit out of me. I know where Gess is." Anika checks Winter's arm. "well before you say anything let me take care of this arm of yours."

Anika carefully sets Winter's arm to heal. "Finley broke into the house last night. She took Gess." Explains Winter. "not saying that I didn't have a hand in helping her. She just got tired of seeing Hoshi suffer." "I wasn't going to get mad. Trust me. Though I would have been very careful about doing so." Winter rests his broken arm against his chest. "there's something else too. They mentioned something about going to the base of PontyPandy Mountain. They want to find the house that Kora was sealed off at…"

 _ **Remember that the rules of my review section still apply.**_

 _ **Things like Criticism and Positive comments are allowed in the review section. If you find something in one of my chapters that you do not understand, please feel free to PM me.**_

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 _ **One final note before I leave: If you feel the need to be offended by what you have just seen in this story thus far, DON'T leave a hateful comment about it. You can PM me about it and I will try to explain it to you the best way possible. Though I have stated and will state again: you knew what you were getting yourself into. You chose to ignore the disclaimers. In fact, I have a disclaimer in my description for a reason! It's not my fault that you chose to ignore it.**_

 _ **I don't get out of bed every morning to impress people. This story was a collab with Mo Will who is in charge of greenlighting everything that gets put into the story.**_

 _ **As always I hope you guys enjoy**_

 _ **-G**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

"why would Mandy and Norman want to go there?" Winter shrugs. "your guess is as good as mine." Winter rubs his shoulder. "I plan on heading out that way tonight." Anika holds up her hand. "no, you'd better stay here. I don't want either of them to beat you again." Winter nods. "alright. Just don't get killed. That's all I ask."

Anika grabbed her sniper rifle. She tied it to her back. She pulled her hood up and over her face. A mask formed over her face-concealing it. She locks up the house before leaving. She takes her sparrow up to the house where Kora was last sealed off. She abandons the sparrow near the base of the mountain. Light from work lamps beamed in the distance. Anika kept to the shadows and bushes. Strange figures wearing black and red robes stood guard near the entrance of the house. The door had an eye with a swirl mark underneath it. She waited for Mandy and Norman to show up.

One of the figures looked up. "Ms. Flood. What a pleasant surprise." He steps away from the door. "Cren has been waiting for you." Mandy nods. She steps into the house with Norman. Anika moves away from her hiding place. She reaches for the small pistol on her belt. She takes aim at one of the guards. She shoots a dart at the guard's throat. The guard gags and drops to the floor suddenly. Anika makes quick work of the other guard. She drags both of their bodies off into the bushes.

Anika crotches near the door. She listens in through the keyhole. "I'm glad to see that you could finally make it." Cooed a voice. The voice sent shivers down Anika's spine. "I have a job for you Cren." Cren leaned forward in his chair. "do tell." Mandy handed him a slip of paper. "I have a set of targets that need to be eliminated. I need to give a certain someone a message." Cren smiles. "say no more. I'll make sure that the job is done. In the meantime." He hands her a set of papers. "I found what you were looking for. Turns out the seal wasn't very good. You may have a chance of actually awakening her." Mandy looks at the papers. "the next blood moon is a couple of weeks. That's when the magic keeping the seal in place is at its weakest." Mandy nods. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thanks, Cren."

Anika steps away from the door. She vanishes off into the night. Winter waited for her back at her place. "what did you find out?" "they plan on awakening Kora in a couple of weeks. I have to alert the house." Explains Anika. "They'll want to send agents out here immediately." Winter scratches his head. "I'll try not to tell Sam. I don't want him to get involved. I should have made sure Kora was properly eliminated. I was foolish to think that the moon chant would work. Taniks won't be too pleased with our failure. I just hope he takes an easy on us."

Sam sat out on the back porch of his house. The moon cast it's light over the top of the fence. His shirt was unbuttoned at the collar revealing his chest. Sam closed his eyes enjoying the ocean air and the silence. The porch door opens suddenly snapping him out of his meditation. Elvis had come outside to check up on him. "see anything of interest out here?" Sam looks up. Elvis sits by him. "no not really. Just keeping my eyes peeled for any signs of trouble." Elvis trailed a finger down Sam's exposed chest. "well I think I have the best view in the house." Sam smirked. "really?" Elvis kisses his chin. "really. It's amazing from down here. You should try it." Sam pulls Elvis into his lap. The two of them begin to make out on the porch swing. Elvis runs his hands through Sam's hair. Sam keeps one arm wrapped around Elvis' waist. Elvis then lays a finger on Sam's lips gently. "I married the most handsome man in the world and he is better than any view I have ever seen." Sam chuckles lightly. "I'm not that beautiful Elvis. I'm quite average when compared to other beautiful things." Elvis shakes his head. "beauty is suggestive. My version of what I find beautiful happens to be holding me in his arms." Sam couldn't help but blush. "if you keep this up, you may just inflate my ego a bit more." Elvis giggles. "aw but I like it when you act tough." Sam blushed even more. "stop it." Sam took Elvis into their room. He laid down on the bed with him. "good night Elvis." Elvis yawns. "night Sam."

Meanwhile

Layla knocked on Buck's bedroom door. "Mr. Douglas?" She didn't get a reply. She slowly opened the door. "Mr. Douglas?" she calls again. Something didn't seem right about this. She opened the door all the way only to find him missing. A deep chill went down her spine. The door behind her closed suddenly. She gasped sensing a presence in the room with her. A figure stood behind her. It ran its hands down her sides. Layla spun around quickly. Her claws came out of her fingers. "stay back!" she warns. A hand stops her. "Layla darling, what are you doing?" Layla let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me," Buck smirked. He ran his hand underneath her chin. "oh, sorry my dear. I didn't mean to startle you." "I came in to check on you but you weren't answering. Why were you hiding?" He rested a finger on her nose. "because I'm doing a special project and you aren't allowed to know about it." She dips her head respectfully. She pulls out of his grasp. "my apologizes then Mr. Douglas. Perhaps I should come back later?" He shakes his head. He grabs hold of her hand. "Oh no, you don't have to leave, in fact, you can probably help me." Layla tilts her head. "how?" Buck smiles at her. He pulls her close. "I just need to borrow you for a quick experiment." Layla seemed unsure. "with all due respect Mr. Douglas, I do not wish to be a part of any unethical experiments." Buck frowns. "Layla, may I remind you that you are obligated to obey your master's wishes no matter how unethical they might be." Layla gulped. "don't worry. It won't hurt. I promise. I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that, yes?" She nods. He then pats her cheek. "good girl. Now I want you to meet me down in the basement tomorrow at noon." Layla bows. "yes Mr. Douglas." She steps out of his room.

Layla woke up early the next morning. She attended to her chores like usual. She met up with Buck in the basement. "Mr. Douglas?" The basement was dark. She couldn't make out anything in the shadows. "Mr. Douglas, are you there?" The light came on suddenly. There were paper lamps tied to the ceiling. Fake grass covered the floor of the basement. Buck was dressed in a black tux. His hair had been slicked back. "Mr. Douglas. I'm…I'm lost for words." Buck smiles at her. He offers her his hand. She gladly accepts as he helps her down the stairs. "I figured that since I'm on the police's radar, we would have a nice afternoon together here." Layla nods. Buck motions over to the table. "why don't we take a seat then yes?" he suggests.

Layla was blushing from head to toe. She flicked her tail back and forth. Buck came downstairs with a tray in his hands. "sorry it took so long. I'm not much of a cook." Layla giggled quietly. "it's fine." He set Layla's plate down in front of her. Buck had made a nice Sheppard's pie. "how is it?" he asked. "it's lovely. You did an excellent job with it." Buck let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. I thought I messed it up. It didn't look right when it came out of the oven." "Mr. Douglas, I'm flattered that you took time out of your day to make it. It's the thought that counts after all." Buck nods. "suppose your right." The two of them ate in silence for a while.

Buck pulled out his phone. He managed to find a station on his music app that they both could listen to. He offers her his hand again. "care to dance?" She gets up from the table and joins him on the grassy floor. He placed one hand on her hip gently. The two of them began to dance. He carefully twirls Layla around. "you look wonderful this evening." Layla blushes again. "Mr. Douglas, you flatter too much." He smirks. "you know I like it when you call me, Mr. Douglas. You give me a feeling of power that I've never felt before." She turns a bright red. "aww am I embarrassing you?" he purrs. He then leans in for a kiss. Layla gasps quietly as his lips touched hers. She feels the hairs on the back of her tail stand up. He pulls away from her. It took Layla a few moments to register what had happened to her. "you truly are one of a kind." He whispers. "Mr. Douglas..." her voice shakes. "Shh. I love you, Layla. I want you to know that. If I had to spend the last few moments on this earth with anyone it would be you." Layla hugs him. "I love you too." He smiles. He rests his head on her shoulder.

Layla and Buck pull away from each other. Buck then carries Layla upstairs to his room. He then closes the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve:

A few weeks pass….

Things continued to flow like normal. Elvis and Sam continued working at the fire station. Sam made things a bit easier for Elvis to manage seeing as he was pregnant. Sam really didn't want Elvis to engage in dangerous activities in his state. "you sure you're going to be okay with me working?" Elvis nods. "I'll manage." Sam took one step towards the door. He looked over his shoulder. Elvis tilted his head towards the door in response. Sam smiles and leaves the house.

He walks across the street to the fire station where Hoshi stood waiting for him. "Uncle Sam, can I talk to you in your office? Alone?" "of course. Is everything okay?" Hoshi scratches his head nervously. "kind of. I need your advice about something. I just don't want any prying ears right now." Sam chuckles quietly. "alright. Come on."

Hoshi steps into the office ahead of his uncle. He sits down in front of his uncle's desk. Sam joins him on the other side. "so, what seems to be the problem?" Hoshi sighs. "look it's really, really stupid but it has something to do with a girl I like. I'm not exactly the one to talk about my feelings or ask someone out. I'm not even sure what girls like. I was wondering if maybe you could give me some advice?" Sam bit his lip. "I'm not exactly the person you want to go to for this but I can try. Just tell this "girl" how you feel. If you really like her, you should tell her. As far as what girls like, I would ask your mother. Girls really aren't…my cup of tea." Hoshi smirks. "wait, you were a ladies' man?" Hoshi then leans forward. "I didn't know my Uncle was a player. Do tell." Sam blushed. His cheeks turned a dark red. "I dated one girl during college. Let's just say she was a creep and a nutcase and ever since then I swore to never date again. Until I met Elvis." Hoshi burst out laughing. "girls are crazy mother fuckers." A booming voice yelling "I heard that!" came in through a crack in the door. Sam slammed his hands down on the table. He shakes his head in disbelief. "just be you and stay calm, okay?" Hoshi nods. "oh, and Hoshi, don't tell anyone about my ex-girlfriend." Hoshi gave his Uncle a thumbs up. "you got it Uncle S." He got up from the chair. "I'll see you later."

Hoshi stood in front of Penny's front door. He let his arms hang by his sides. "okay. Okay. You've got this. Just remember what Uncle Sam said." He knocks on the door before stepping back. Finley answers it. "oh, hey Hoshi. Welcome back." She then closes the door a crack. "Gess! Your dad is back!" Gess runs downstairs. "daddy!" he shouts. He tosses himself at his father's leg. Hoshi carefully lifts him up into his arms. "Hello, little one." Gess wiggles happily. Hoshi lets out a soft sigh. "um, Fin, can we talk for a few moments. I need to tell ya something." Finley nods. "sure. I don't see why not. Come on in." Hoshi sets Gess back down on his feet. Gess runs off with Leon into the backyard. "listen, Finley, I'm thinking of taking our relationship to the next level. Seeing as we've been together for a few months." Finley leans against the kitchen counter. "how far do you plan on taking it?" Hoshi gulps nervously. "ya know, far enough to maybe having a future with you." Finley smirks. She could hear the nervous edge in his voice. "I really like you. I want to be with you." "I get what you're saying, Hoshi. You want to be my boyfriend, don't you?" she questioned. Hoshi coughs into his hand. "well yeah. I just didn't know how to express it." Finley takes his hand in hers. She pulls him over to the counter. "you're really sweet, you know that? Of course, I want you in my life." Hoshi smiles. "great! So it's official. I'm yours." Finley runs her hands down his sides. She steals a kiss from him. Hoshi pulled her close to him. He feels her lean back a little. He slowly gets on top of her kissing her even deeper. Finley starts to feel lightheaded and breaks the kiss. She grips the collar of his shirt to steady herself. "that was…something." He kisses her cheek. "I know. Sorry, I'm so awkward." "it's okay. You've been through a lot."

Hoshi watched Gess and Leon play in the backyard. "So, when are you going to play me a song?" Hoshi blushes. "not sure. I haven't really performed in front of others. I wasn't sure if someone wanted to hear me sing." Finley ran her hand across the top of his back. "well the next time your over, I want to hear a song." He leans against her. "I heard my Uncle's husband is pregnant which I'm not understanding how that's possible. It's a violation of every law of Biology imaginable." Finley shrugs. "magic? Pure hope?" "as long as the two of them are happy I can't really complain. I'll just feel weird about it. I'm the one to talk considering Gess has a small portion of Otter blood in him. He's more human than anything else. It's very rare that he'll ever be fully half-blooded." Finley looks up at him. "is that a bad thing?" "no. That means he'll be able to live a normal life. Despite having a freak for a father." Finley scoffed quietly. "why are you so hard on yourself? What's so wrong with being a half-breed?" Hoshi looks down. "people look at us like we are vile. Unsanitary. In some places, we aren't allowed to roam freely. Behind those mountains in the background, a war rages. A civil war between us and you. Humans look at us with the utmost hatred. Some days I wonder why I ended up becoming this." Finley wraps her arms around his waist. "I don't think you are cursed. I don't think your any of those things. When I stare at you and Gess, that's it, that's exactly what I see. I see just you and him no beast, no monster, just you." Hoshi laughs softly. "thanks, Fin. I needed that."

A key turned in the lock. "hello?" a voice calls. Finley taps Hoshi on the shoulder waking him up. He quickly stands up. "hey Penny." Greeted Finley. "hey Fin. Hoshi. Where's Leo?" Almost as if on cue, Leon comes running in. He rushes over to his mom. Penny smiles and lifts him up. "hey kiddo. I trust you behaved today, yes?" He nods. "I was outside playing all day with Gess." Penny touches noses with him. "good." She sets him back down again. "you look tired, sis. Why don't you head upstairs?" suggested Finley. "I may just take you up on that offer. Though I want to stretch my legs a little before I do so. Can you make dinner while I pop out for a few moments?" Finley nods. "sure. Just come back safely."

Penny shivered as the crisp autumn air tugged at her jacket. Brightly colored leaves covered the forest path she was on. All she could hear was the faint sound of leaves crunching underneath her feet. The air smelled faintly of peat and leaves. She walked down the path a little while longer before stopping to rest near the foot of one of the trees. She cringed slightly feeling the mud underneath her. She rested her head against the bark of the tree. She sighed softly. She closed her eyes for a few minutes allowing her body to relax.

Somewhere a few feet away, a figure watched her. He slowly lifted his wrist. A sharp blade had been loaded into his wrist launcher. He took aim at her. He then pressed a button his wrist which set the blade flying towards Penny. The blade missed her head by mere inches. The sound of the blade hitting the bark was enough to startle Penny. She quickly got to her feet. She took off running down the path towards home. The figure growled quietly and took off after her.

The figure gave chase. Penny fled deeper into the woods. Her attacker kept close to her. He reached for something on his belt. He yanked out a curved blade. He tossed it at her ankle. Penny yelped as the blade went right into the back of her leg. She stumbled for a second before regaining her balance. She got to the edge of the ravine and jumped down into it. She braced for impact. She managed to land feet first into the stream that flowed through the ravine. She then took off running again. The figure jumped down after her. He landed on each ledge perfectly before landing in the stream. He gave chase again. He chased her into the narrow tunnels carved into the ravine. The walls barely gave Penny any space to flee further. She reached a dead end. The figure smiled. "nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide." Penny felt the walls for cracks or someway of being able to climb up. The figure grabbed her arm. He then punched her in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. Penny fell to her knees wheezing. Penny gripped her stomach. She coughed up blood. She then felt something else contact her. That was the last thing she felt before blacking out.

Ellie soon returned home. She spotted Finley changing into her robes. "everything okay?" she asked. "no. Penny hasn't come home yet. I'm going out to look for her." Ellie nods. "I'll stay here and watch the kids then. Just be careful." Finley left the house. She tunes the world out for just a moment. Her vision turns a light blue. A faint yellow trail showed up in the blue. She followed the yellow trail into the woods. She sensed that her sister was somewhere nearby but there was someone else there too. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. A flash of red showed up in her vision. Finley reached for an arrow. She loaded the arrow into her bow and waited for the enemy to come to her. The red started to glow brighter. Finley allowed her vision to return to normal. A line of knives came flying at her. Finley dodged them. She let go of her arrow. The arrow went flying and struck its target in the shoulder. The figure dodged rolled off to the side before attacking Finley again. Finley jumped away from his throwing knives. She sent another arrow at him. The arrow struck him in the thigh. Finley then jumps kicking him in the chest knocking him backward. The figure held his chest. He snarled softly. He picked up some dirt and tossed it up into the air creating a small cloud. He quickly limped away. Finley let the cloud settle before going off to find her sister.

Finley reached the ravine. She followed what her gut was saying. The trail stopped near the tunnels. A deep pit grew in Finley's stomach. She hated tunnels. She let out a shaky breath as she squeezed her way through the narrow walls of the tunnel. The rocks sharply jutted into her sides. She gritted her teeth. Her sister's aura was very weak. "why would Penny come this way? Not even the smallest of animals could get out this way." She thought. The tunnel gave way to a chamber which was the same dead end that Penny had reached. The chamber was barely lit. All Finley could hear was the sound of her own breathing. She allowed her eagle vision to kick in again. She gasped when she spotted her sister lying on the ground a few inches away from her. "Penny!" She rushed to her sister's side. She kneels next to her. "Penn?" She feels something warm on Penny's arm. She wiped some of the substance off and smelled it. Blood. She felt her sister over for wounds. Penny's eyes were faced towards the entrance of the chamber. Her mouth was open in a silent plea. Blood trickled from her mouth. "Penny? Penny!" Finley shakes her sister gently. Finley quickly looks around. She tosses Penny up onto her back. She spotted the nasty wound on Penny's head. She ran her sister out of the chamber and into the woods. She had to get Penny to a hospital.

Ellie started to become concerned. Finley wasn't back yet and it was nearly midnight. Where was she? Ellie dialed Finley's number hoping that she would answer. Finley didn't answer the first couple of times but answered on the fourth try.

 **Ellie: Finley, where are you? Is Penny okay? Did you manage to find her?**

 **Finley: I'm at Newtown Hospital. I found Penny laying on her side in the ravine. I barely made it out though. Someone attacked me. I think they're the same person who hurt Penny.**

 **Ellie: Do you want me to come down?**

 **Finley: if you want. Bring the kids with you though. I think they might try to attack the house next.**

 **Ellie: understood. I'll be there soon.**

Ellie got both kids' ready. She then grabbed the keys to Venus. The kids hopped into Venus with her sliding in behind them.

Finley waited for Ellie in the lobby. Ellie arrived with the kids. "how is she?" Finley shrugs. "I don't know. They haven't said anything." Leon goes over to his aunt. He holds his arms up at her. She picks him gently. Leon wraps her arms around his neck. Finley rubs his back comfortingly. "she wasn't responsive. She didn't reply to me when I called her name." Ellie hugged Finley. "it's okay. I'm sure she'll be okay."

A pale shape appeared in Penny's room. It took on the shape of a human as it approached Penny's bedside. Station Officer Steele watched over Penny. "hang in there, Firefighter Morris. It's not your time to go. Just hold in there."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Did my dead-ass seriously take forever to update another fanfiction? tsk tsk. Sorry about that everyone. I just never really felt like my stories were worth updating but since Hunter's Chronicles is a commitment I'm willing to see it out till the end.**_

 _ **Again I'm sorry I haven't been too active. There have been a lot of things on my mind as of late. Fanfiction isn't my full-time career. I do ask in light of recent events that you guys be respectful. I am not here to bend to your ill will nor will I tolerate hooligans acting up in my review section.**_

 _ **EDIT: Please do not ask for updates. I do not know when they will be coming out.**_

 _ **-G**_

Chapter Thirteen

"Yeah. Yeah, thanks for letting me know. Uh huh. See you later." Sam hangs up on Anika. He tucks his phone back into his pocket. "that was Anika. Penny is in the hospital." Elvis gasps quietly. "is she okay?" he asks. "they don't know. She came in with some rather deep wounds. Anika fears that the attacker might go for someone else next." Sam sits by Elvis. "if that's the case I don't want you leaving this house, okay?" Elvis nods. "not like I have plans on doing so anyway. Not with the way I'm feeling."

Hoshi came home after having just spent the day with Gess. He had a big grin on his face. Bronwyn smiles at him. "good day I take it?" Hoshi nods. "yup. It's so nice to see Gess again." He sits down on the couch. "where did the old man go?" he asks looking around. "I believe he went out to do some night time fishing. He'll be back soon."

Meanwhile...

Sarah's alarm started to go off. She sniffs sitting upright. She looks at her phone. "looks like it's time to get up." She tosses the blankets back and slides out of bed. She changes into a white shirt with a black pair of pants. She then puts her beanie on. "now for a quick breakfast and I'll have to head out to do some filming." Sarah heads downstairs to have breakfast before coming back upstairs to grab her equipment.

Sarah leaves her hotel room. She knew deep down doing so was a bit of a mistake. She heard chanting just a few feet ahead of her. She quickly got her camera out. There was a riot going on over immigration issues. She started taking pictures of people tossing objects into store windows. People also set cars on fire. Sarah ducked into one of the nearby alleyways as people rushed past her chanting. She shook her head. She pulled out her recorder. "The riots in the downtown area appear to have gotten worse. I may want to proceed with caution for now on." She put the recorder back in her pocket.

Sarah kept walking. She saw figures watching her as she walked past. A part of her told her to start heading back to the hotel room. She turned around. She put her camera back in her bag. She walked briskly back the way she came. She heard footsteps behind her. Sarah took off running. The figures soon started to give chase. She darted down the street away from them. She kept as much distance between her and them as possible. The hotel was right in sight. Relief flashed across her face. A body slammed into her sending her spiraling into the street just as the incoming vehicle came right into her direction...

"Boom!"

Thunder clapped outside. Charlie walked into the cafe. He tossed his wet jumper onto the back of the chair. "Bronwyn? I'm home!" he shouts as he heads upstairs. His boots squeak on the old wood. Bronwyn smiles and moves from her spot. "hello love." Charlie stood on top of the stairs soaking wet. She shakes her head in disapproval. "Charlie Jones, what am I going to do with you." He kisses her cheek. His lips were still wet from the rain. He walks off into their room to get changed.

Rain continued to pour down outside. Hoshi sat close to the window in his room. He stared in the direction of Penny's house. A single yellow light showed through the wall of water. He put his hand on the glass. _Soon we'll be out of this place. I just need a bit more cash and then we can leave this hellhole._ He thinks to himself. Lightning flashes across the sky once more. A deep sense of dread welled up in his stomach. He got up from the window and went over to his bed. He flopped down into it with a heavy sigh. The clutches of exhaustion lured him to sleep.

"But I don't want a bath!"

"Leo, please you've had a long day."

Leon let out a defeated sigh. "alright." Ellie smiles. She gets the bath going for Leon. Leon hops into the tub once she's finished. Ellie ruffles his hair gently. "shout when you are done. Don't make a mess." Leon nods. He begins playing with some of his toys.

Ellie steps out of the bathroom. She sits down in her and Penny's room. "first night without her home. It's going to be hard." Lightning flashes again. Ellie jumps back on the bed. She places a hand over her heart. She pulls out her phone. She unlocks it to reveal a photo that she had taken of Penny while she was working. She smiles at her. "goodnight love. I'll see you in the morning." She put her phone on the nightstand.

Ellie went back into the bathroom. She got Leon dried off. "go into your room and get dressed. I'll be in shortly to read you a story." He nods trotting off. Ellie then drained the tub. She closed the bathroom door behind her.

Leon slid into a pair of PJs before climbing into bed. Ellie picked a story to read to him. Leon settled against the headboard. She began reading to him. She got a good way into the book before Leon fell asleep. She smiled. She pulled the blanket up past his shoulders. "good night kiddo. Sweet dreams."

Ellie laid down on top of her own bed. She sighed looking out the window. She let sleep slowly take her.

The next morning came...

The sun filtered it's way through the clouds breaking them up a little bit. Charlie yawned and stretched as he tossed the blankets back. It was time for him to do his morning catch. He looked down at his wonderful wife who was sleeping next to him. He kissed her cheek before sliding out of bed.

He walked out of the cafe. He took in the fresh scents around him. "the seas are going to be a bit touch today." he comments. "I'd better stick close to the harbor just in case the tide isn't back out yet." Little did Charlie know that his world was about to be turned upside down. A figure watched him from a distance. He had a small piece of paper with Charlie's name written on it. He pulled out a device that had a button. He watched the sailor get a few feet away from shore.

Hoshi was woken up out of a dead sleep by a thunderous explosion. He sat upright in bed. He darted out of his room and rushed downstairs. "Mom! Mom!" he shouted. He then heads upstairs to check on her. He found his mother laying on the floor holding her head. "mom, something happened near the harbor!"

 _ **Oh darn, I left it on a , didn't I? Bummer... Ah well. Until my next update: Peace and be kind to each other**_

 _ **-G**_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Lights flashed on the inside of the fire station. _**Fire at sea. Explosion reported near the quay.**_ Sam slammed his hand down on the red button. "Fire at Sea. Explosion reported near the quay." Arnold and Ellie poked their heads in. "come on you two. Let's head to the Ocean Rescue Center. I'll take Mercury. You two follow me in Venus." Ellie and Arnold both nod. "Rodger that Sam."

Hoshi rushes down the steps. He gasps when he sees the fire overtaking his father's boat. "no. no. no." He takes off his shirt. He changes into his wereotter form diving down into the ocean. _Please be okay dad. Please be okay._ He swam as close as he could get to his father's boat which was half submerged in water. He used his whiskers to detect his father's body heat. Something a few feet below caught his attention. He dove downwards some more. The current slightly tugging him upwards. He fought against the current. The figure's silhouette showed through the murky depths. His heart stopped. His father's body was half burned to a crisp from the blast. He let out a small cry of pain. He grabbed the back of his father's shirt. He swam upwards.

His body broke the surface of the water. A loud siren noise invaded his eardrums. He quickly swam to shore. He had to get his father help. He pulled his father's body up onto the beach. He gave his hand a small nuzzle with his snout. Adrenaline coursed through him. His feral side threatens to break through its chains. "come on Dad. Come on." he begged. He changed back. He fell to his knees. His body trembling and shaking. He began doing CPR. "come on!" he yelled. "Dad don't do this! We need you! Come on!" he shouts. He put his ear to his father's chest. Charlie laid still on the sand. Hoshi stared at him in disbelief. He put a hand over his mouth. Sobs tumbled out of his chest.

"Hoshi?! Charlie?!"

Hoshi got up from the sand. He had to get away. His control was already slipping. He phased and disappeared off a different side of the beach. His back claws clipped the rocks behind him leaving three huge claw marks.

Sam and the team managed to put the inferno out. "Charlie?!" Sam climbed aboard of the burned vessel. He frowned when he couldn't find his brother anywhere on the boat. "Ellie to Sam, I found Charlie. He's laying on the beach but.." the radio went silent for a moment. "it's really bad. I've contacted Nurse Flood and she's on her way." Sam's heart was missing beats. He headed back to the shore. Ellie waited for him at the top of the stairs. She had a grave look on her face. Sam felt his heart fall to his knees. "is he okay?" She shook her head. She motioned for him to follow her.

Helen laid a blanket over the top of Charlie's body. She looked up at him. Sam fell to his knees. "I'm sorry Sam. I did all I could." Tears welled up in his eyes. He bowed his head. Bronwyn joined Sam on the beach. He wrapped his arms around her. She sobbed into his neck. "I should have made him stay home." sobs Bronwyn. "Bronwyn, please don't blame yourself." rasps Sam. "this isn't your fault. I promise you I will find the man responsible for this."

Anika met up with Sam and Bronwyn on the beach. She hugged Sam gently. "I'm so sorry Sam." Sam buries his face in her shoulder. "I know who did this." Sam looks up at her. "a man named Cren. He was hired by Mandy to hurt Hoshi. She isn't too happy that he has his son back." Sam let out a small growl. "how come you kept this from me?!" he snapped. "I could have protected him!" Anika flinches. "I needed to investigate it further. I didn't want to believe it at first." Sam looked at his brother's body. "I want you to find this man. Don't stop until you do. I want him dead." snarls Sam. "I want him to feel every bit of pain Charlie did." Anika nods. "understood Sam." "Hoshi." whispers Bronwyn. "where's Hoshi? He left this morning to help you guys out but he isn't here now." Sam frowns. "we'll find him Bronwyn." He pulls away from Anika. "Anika, keep an eye on Bronwyn and James. They'll be next on Cren's hit list. Ellie and Arnold, I want you two with me. I'll radio Tom."

Hoshi ran into the woods. He slammed his whole body against trees shattering them in half. He took swings at some of the larger rocks leaving huge claw marks in them. He let out a thunderous roar of anger. Tears blurred his vision. _Damn it. Damn it. Why didn't you go with him?_ He turned his head. He brought his fangs down onto his flank drawing blood. He bit every part of his body over and over again drawing blood and leaving teeth marks. He grew dizzy from the blood loss. He swayed. He had blood on his maw from the wounds he had inflicted on himself. His ears perked as the faint hum of a helicopter drew closer. _Shit...it's Tom. I need to hide._ Hoshi scrambled to his feet. He dragged his body smearing blood onto the ground. He found a ravine and climbed down it. His claws gripping the rocks. He squeezed his body into a small tunnel made in the ravine.

Sam and Arnold searched the ground. Arnold rode on the back of Mercury with Sam. "I see damaged trees ahead, Sam." Sam slows Mercury down to a stop. He turns the motor off for just a second. "Hoshi must have come this way. There's blood on the ground too. We'll need to be careful." Sam got off of Mercury. "um Sam..what are you doing?" Sam removed his helmet. "Hoshi could be in primal rage mode. I'm not taking any chances." Sam then took off his Mountain Rescue uniform. Arnold looked away politely. "must you take off your clothes?" Sam chuckles. "when I change it's not like I can keep my pants." At this point, the only thing Sam had on was his boxers. He tucked his clothes into the storage box on Mercury. He backed up just a bit. Sam started changing forms. Ginger fur grew on his body. He grunted in pain feeling his bones pop and shift back into place. Horns grew on the front of his face. He got down on all fours. Sam felt his fangs grow out of his mouth. His senses were keen to everything around him. He finally finished changing. Sam was in his Tiefling Cat state. He looked at Arnold. "alright I'll follow behind you on Mercury. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Sam took off running. He followed his nephew's scent. He got to the edge of the ravine. He motioned for Arnold to wait with his tail. He climbed down the side of the ravine carefully. His claws dug firmly into the rock face. The scent grew stronger near the edge of one of the tunnels. The fur on the back of Sam's neck stood up. He sensed danger. He let out a wildcat-like screech into the tunnel. The walls of the ravine began to shake. Golden eyes glared back at Sam. A deafening roar greeted his eardrums as Hoshi burst forward. Rage and hatred coursed through his body. He lunged at his uncle. Sam jumped onto the wall dodging the incoming attack. He then flipped landing on the back of Hoshi's shoulders. Hoshi let out another roar of pain. He slammed his back against the side of the wall.

Elvis woke up. He felt the air being knocked out of him. He held his chest. He rushed over to the window. "Sam..."

 _ **Bearclaws**_

 _ **Thank you so much for the review. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far. If you want to check out the very first story in the series, the first one is located on Mo Will's page.**_

 _ **Guys I do encourage you to show Whisper some love too. She's been going through a lot the past couple of weeks and it would mean a lot to see positive reviews being posted on her stuff too.**_

 _ **Until my next chapter**_

 _ **Peace and be kind to each other**_

 _ **-G**_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Sam felt Hoshi's fangs make contact with his flank. He let out a howl of pain. Hoshi then flung his uncle away from him. Sam landed painfully on his side. He struggled to get up. He couldn't move his left front paw at all. He hopped onto his three good legs. Hoshi made an advance towards him again. Blue fire formed in Sam's mouth. He lobbed a fireball at his nephew. The fireball landed on his side burning him. Hoshi let out a yowl of pain. This gave Sam enough time to try and escape the raging wereotter. Tom watched the whole scene unfold from the sky. "this is bad. This is really bad. Hold on Sam I've got an idea." He turned around and flew off.

Sam made it halfway up the ravine. The rocks under him moved. A pair of fangs grabbed his hips dragging him downwards. Sam yowled. He held on with the one good paw he had. He tried to pull his body upwards. Hoshi yanked on him again. His fangs made a sawing motion. Sam yowled out in pain again.

Elvis felt pain in both his left arm and lower part of his body. His vision changed. He could peer into Sam's thoughts thanks to the bond. _Shit. I won't be able to hold on for much longer. I'm getting dizzy._ Elvis felt Hoshi's fangs being buried into his own body. He picked up the pace. He was halfway through the woods when he heard Sam let out another pained cry. Sam let go of the ravine. Hoshi swung his Uncle in a full circle. He slammed him painfully against the rocks. Sam went limp in his jaws. Hoshi then dropped him watching him as he plummented into the floor below. Sam weakly got to his paws. He dragged his body away from his nephew.

"Sam!" shouted a voice. Sam looked up. He spotted a familiar shape on the top of the ravine. Sam tried to call out to him but had no strength to do so. Elvis started climbing down the ravine. He was mindful of his current state. Sam's pain became his own. He barely got halfway down. Hoshi screeched seeing him. Sam got to his paws. He let out another screech warning Elvis to climb up. Elvis refused. Hoshi started going towards Elvis. His fangs bared. Sam flung himself at Hoshi only to be swatted away with his paw. Sam tumbled before blacking out near a pile of rocks. Hoshi reared on his back paws. He roared getting ready to lunge at Elvis.

"not today mate!"

Tom flew his helicopter as low as he could get it. He had the bucket filled to the brim with water. He slammed the side of the bucket as hard as he could into the side of Hoshi's head. The blow was enough to knock Hoshi out. Hoshi swayed before collapsing onto his side.

Elvis reached the bottom. "Sam!" He rushes over to his fallen mate. He checks him for a pulse. He lets out a sigh of relief once he finds one. He pulls Sam's body into his lap. Sam's eyes slowly open. His vision blurs in and out. "Elv?" he croaks. Elvis smiles. He kisses the top of Sam's head. "Tom managed to knock Hoshi out with his helicopter or bucket rather." Sam turns his head. He spots Hoshi laying on his side. He could make out the large injuries made to him. Sam sits up. Tom idles above them in mid air. He gets on the megaphone. "Sam, you okay mate?" Sam waves at him. "yeah I'm fine. Lower the winch please. Let's get Hoshi home."

Hoshi was air lifted out of the ravine. Lizzie and Helen were both on standby a few feet away. Arnold handed Sam his uniform. Sam quickly changed back into it. "are you alright, Sam? I heard screaming." Sam nodded. "yeah. I'll be fine. Luckily my wounds don't transfer to my human form." He turns to Elvis. "what are you doing out here?" he asks. "I was in pain well I sensed you were in pain. I had to come save you." Sam hugs Elvis. Elvis could sense an even greater sadness growing within Sam. "I'll be home in a little while. I have to make sure my nephew is going to be alright."

Hoshi laid on the operating table. Lizzie monitored his condition. "I don't think I've seen wounds like this in a long time." Helen sighs. "I have. The last time he went through a heartbreaking time he went full primal. He couldn't stop hurting himself until he blacked out. Charlie's death must have been real hard on him." Lizzie places her hand on the glass. "poor thing." Helen stays quiet. She had tears in her eyes. Sam walked into the clinic. "how is he?" Helen turns around. "well he'll be out cold for a while. Those wounds are going to take time to heal. They were very deep." Sam nods. "you guys were able to get him to us in time. I don't want to think about what might of happened if you hadn't." Sam gulps. "neither do I. It's been a tough day. Keep me posted on how he's doing."

Sam went home later on that evening. He sat down on the couch. He placed his face in his hands and cried. He didn't notice Elvis sitting down next to him. Elvis wrapped his arms around him. He held Sam close to him. "just remember it's never goodbye it's see you soon." Sam wraps his arms around Elvis. He buries his face in his chest.

Cren tapped on the door of an old house. Norman answered it. Cren had a big smile on his face. "phase one of our plan is complete." He handed Norman the picture he had of Charlie. The picture was marked out with red lettering that read: Target Anihilated. Norman smiles. "Mandy will be very happy with your success." Cren sits down in one of the chairs. He began reloading his clip. "I'll be taking care of the mother next. I'm waiting for her to be at the funeral. I have a hawk's nest set up so hiding won't be a problem." Norman nods. He slides a few bills across the table. Cren smiles and puts them into his pocket. "glad I could be of service. I just hope my future kills are just as easy as that one was."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

 _The door to Hoshi's room creaked open. A female figure carefully poked her head in. Hoshi was attached to different machines all measuring something different. There were three sets of screens hanging off the wall. Hoshi laid asleep on his bed. The moonlight filtered in through the window giving him that eerie glow. The female reached out to touch him. Hoshi's eyes then snapped open. He roared loudly. His jaws came down on top of her head._

Hoshi snapped awake. He panted looking around his room. He heard the machine above him beep loudly. He found himself hooked up to various things. He rolled over painfully onto his side. He grunted quietly. There was no one else in his room. He held his head. _God my head. What the hell was that dream about? Why do I hurt all over?_ He wondered. The door to his room opened. Helen stepped in. "Glad to see you're awake, Hoshi." She took his vitals. "Helen, what the hell happened to me?" he asked. Helen goes quiet. She bites her lip. He could tell she was debating whether or not to tell him. "you had a nasty accident yesterday." she explains. "your Uncle found you in the bottom of a ravine." Hoshi rests on his side. "I see. Count on me to find something stupid to get myself into." he laughs. Helen smiles at him. "do you know if Finley will be by today?" Helen shrugs. "not sure. If she does show up. I'll be sure to send her your way." Hoshi lays his head on his pillow. "thanks." Helen nods. She leaves the room.

"Ouch!"

"ow!"

"Jesus Elvis! Not so tight!"

Elvis was changing Sam's bandages. "sorry Sam." he muttered. He tied a small knot in the bandage going around Sam's arm. "there we are." Sam admires Elvis' work. "now don't go roughhousing on that." smirks Elvis as he taps Sam on the nose. "oh trust me, I don't plan to." He gets up only to wince. Elvis takes his mate's uninjured arm. "I really think you should rest today." Sam holds Elvis close. "I'll be fine." Sam kisses the top of Elvis' head. "besides, I have to check on Bronwyn." Sadness hits Sam like a ton of bricks. Elvis senses this. He squeezes Sam's arm gently. "I was hoping that nightmare wouldn't come true," whispered Sam. "I was hoping for once in my life that I wouldn't lose another person close to me." Sam turned his head away. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. The memory of him holding his dead brother appeared. The sky had turned a light red color. Sam's other fist clenched. "those bastards!" Elvis rubbed Sam's shoulder gently. Elvis' touch snapped Sam out of his thoughts.

The two of them left the house. Elvis rested a hand on his growing stomach. He leaned against Sam's side. Sam wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Elvis smiled. "once we make sure Bronwyn is okay, we can pay Penny a visit. I heard she was hospitalized." Elvis nods. The bell above the cafe door chimed. "Bronwyn?!" called Sam. He heard the faint ticking of the clock right next to the stairs. Elvis frowns. "Bronwyn?" calls Sam again. A deep pit formed in his stomach. "stay behind me." Sam keeps his body in front of Elvis as he heads up the steps. He calls Bronwyn's name again. What bothered him was that the cafe was silent. He reaches the top of the stairs. The door to the living room hung open. Sam's protective instincts kicked in. His hand clasped Elvis'. He crept forward. His feet barely making a sound on the wood. Sam poked his head around the corner. Bronwyn sat silently on her couch. A picture of Charlie clutched firmly in her hand. Sam let go of Elvis' hand. "Bronwyn?" Bronwyn didn't flinch. Sam walked around to the front of the couch. His gaze softened. Bronwyn had a haunted look on her face. Her whole world shattered right before her. She was completely pale. Her green eyes were dark. "oh Bronwyn." Sam kneels down in front of her. His hand touched her knee. The motion was enough to snap Bronwyn out of her daze. She looked up at him. Tears formed in her eyes gently. She tossed her arms around his neck. She bawled into his chest. Sam held her close. He rubbed her back. He let his own slowly fall. His shirt became wet with her tears. "my world is gone." she wailed. "they took him from me." Sam tightened his hold on her. He pulled her into his lap. He rested his back against the wall. "he was the only family I had." he croaked. "I made a promise to protect him. I'm so sorry Bronwyn. I'm sorry. I don't blame you if you hate me." Bronwyn shakes her head. She keeps her hold on Sam. Elvis felt their grief hit him like a ton of bricks. His knees buckled. He knelt by them. He hugged the both of them.

Bronwyn had cried herself to sleep on Sam's lap. Sam continued to sit there holding her. He kept vigil for her. Elvis kept the both of them close. Sam heard one of the bedroom doors open. His vision changed to blue. A yellow shape stood in the hallway. He relaxed his guard when he realized it was only James. His vision returned to normal. James walked into the living room. Sam offered James his arm. James went over to his Uncle. He cuddled close to him. Sam let out a soft sigh. He turned his head to the window. The sun's rays were poking through it. Elvis tapped Sam's shoulder. "rest love, I'll keep watch." Sam hesitated. He then settles down to rest. His eyes slowly close as he drifts off to a dreamless sleep.

Finley waited in an alley near one of the businesses in Newtown. She tapped her boot impatiently on the ground. "where are you?" she mutters under her breath. Another shadow landed next to her. They had on black robes. Their face was covered by a red fox mask. Finley turned to face them. "you called Mi Amor?" they asked. Finley rolled her eyes. "I have a job for you." The figure bowed. "anything." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Finley gently pulled her hand away. "There's a crazy murderer running amuck. They're making life worse for Hoshi and his family. I think they go by the name of Cren. We suspect Mandy is behind it." The figure nods. They hold Finley's arm. They pull her close to them. Finley turned her head away. She leaned away from them. The figure kept her close to them. They lifted up their mask a little bit to reveal a set of dark colored lips. They gently kiss her neck. "I've waited years to see you." Finley pushed them away. "just get to work." The figure nods. They leap up onto the ceiling. Finley heard something hit the ground. She looked down to see a red fox charm on the ground. She groaned. She picked it up. She tucked it away in her pocket. She decided to visit Hoshi on the way home. She put her hood back up over her face. She hoped no one saw the exchange between the two. She jumped up onto the rooftop as well. She began running across them.

A tiny drone hovered behind her a few feet away. The camera zoomed in on her. It watched as the last of Finley's form disappeared over the city walls. Mandy smiled as she watched the screen. "looks like Finley isn't so loyal." She turned to Norman and Cren. "Change of plans boys, I might have an idea that might work even better." A wicked smile played on her lips. She looked at Cren. "Cren, not only are you going to take out your next target, but your going to play a game of capture the flag." She wrote down a list of names for him to take care of. "we'll use these people as ransom." Cren smirked. "I like your thinking. They shouldn't be too hard to capture." He tucks the note into his pocket. He gets up from his chair. He slings his rifle over his shoulder. "see you later."

Hoshi laid awake on his hospital bed. His gaze stared at the ceiling. The door to his room opens. He rolls over to see Finley in the room with him. He beams at her. Finley tosses her cloak into one of the empty chairs. She races over to his bedside and hugs him. "you dumbass." she mutters. Hoshi laughs softly. He holds her close. He kisses her. Finley leans into the kiss. She runs her hands through his hair. Hoshi lays back. He lets her sit on his waist. He smirks. "don't sit any lower. You might end up with a rod in your crotch." She lightly slapped him across the shoulder. She had a bit of a blush on her face. He lays his hands behind his head. "I could get used to this." She looks him. "used to what?" she asked. "this. The view." She smiles at him. She then lays down on top of him gently. Hoshi rests an arm around her shoulders. Finley listened to the sound of his thunderous heartbeat. "I counted each minute you weren't by my side," he whispers. "I feel better now that you are here." Finley traces a pattern on his chest. "I am so sorry about your dad." Hoshi saddens. Finley feels his grip on her get tight. His chest starts to complusate. Tears stream down his face. Finley hugs him. "I'm working on trying to find out who did this. We're going to do everything we can to make sure your mother is safe." Hoshi sniffed. "why did it have to be him?" Finley kisses his cheek. "I don't know." She looks at the scars on him. Her heart shattered from him. She lays her head on his chest. Hoshi wiped the tears away from his face. Finley gently touched his hand. She took it and put it on her cheek. Hoshi started to relax. The both of them ended up falling asleep in each other's arms. Helen walked in. She smiled. She quickly did her checks and left the room.

Cren perched up in one of the rooftops. He waited for Bronwyn to be out of the cafe. He smiled once he heard the door to the cafe opened. He took aim. The muzzle of the rifle pointed at his target. A frown flashed across his face. Elvis had left the cafe. He shook his head and shrugged. "ah well. Maybe Mandy wouldn't mind if I put a bullet hole through him. She didn't mention anything about not putting dents in the merchandise."

A shape broke through the glass of the living room window. Elvis felt somebody slam into him head-on as a gunshot went off. A loud scream escaped his lips. His body plastered onto the ground. Something warm landed on top of him. He turned around to see Sam right on top of him. Sam winced. The bullet had gone right into his shoulder. Elvis paled. "SAM!" he yelled. Sam fell onto his side. Elvis applied pressure to his wound. Cren lowered his rifle. He got up from his perch. He took off running before anyone could spot him.

Elvis got Sam inside. "Bronwyn!" he yelled. He heard somebody running down the stairs. Bronwyn gasped. "oh dear. Take him upstairs. I'm calling Nurse Flood." Elvis half carried, half dragged Sam upstairs. The panic was settling in. Sam sensed this. He held Elvis close to him. Elvis laid Sam down on the couch. He took his mate's shirt off. The wound was already beginning to heal on its own. Sam winced softly in pain. "easy Elvis." Elvis holds him close. He curls up next to him. Soft whimpers came out of him. Tears form in his eyes. "shh Elvis. I'll be okay." rasps Sam. "you had me so scared." Elvis kissed his mate's cheek. "please don't do anything stupid like that ever again." Sam smiles at him.

Helen came into the room. She gasped when she saw the state Sam was in. "stay still, Sam." Helen set her first aid kit on the table. She opened her kit up and pulled out a set of tweezers. "alright let's take a look at the wound." She gently poked at Sam's wound with the tweezers. The tip of it touched the bullet which had implanted itself into Sam's shoulder. Sam winced. He gripped the pillow that was sitting underneath him. "I need to get it out before your wound closes over it." She pulled it out carefully. Sam gritted his teeth. He closed his eyes. He felt something leave his shoulder. "there we are." She set the bullet down on the table. She then began fixing up his wound.

Helen washed the blood off her hands. "how did you get a bullet in your shoulder, Sam?" she asked. "Someone tried to kill Elvis." Sam rested his good arm around Elvis' shoulder. "I sensed somebody outside. I think they might have been sitting on top of the roof." Helen nodded. She started trembling a little bit. That marked two attacks in the span of two days. "you really should alert Anika about this." Sam nods. He sighs softly. He was tired. Elvis placed a pillow behind his mate's head. He touched Sam's cheek. Sam smiled at him. Elvis winced. He placed a hand over his womb. The stress from the past two days was getting to him. Sam placed a hand over his. "we'll be okay love. I promise you that. I'll do everything I can to make sure you and the kids are safe." rasps Sam.

A drone hovered near the window. It zoomed in on Sam and Elvis as they continued talking. "I thought about going to the doctor's tomorrow. Hopefully, they can tell us whether or not it's a boy or a girl." Sam squeezes Elvis' hand gently. "I'm too scared to leave your side now." Sam ran his other hand underneath Elvis' chin. "don't worry about me. Just focus on the baby." Elvis nods. "okay Sam." He kisses his mate on the cheek. Mandy watched the screen carefully. She picked up her walkie. "Cren, careful when grabbing Elvis. He's pregnant which should make this even more interesting." She sets the walkie back down again.

Helen gets up from her chair. "I'd better get going for the night." Sam nods. "Nos Da, Helen." Helen leaves the cafe. She couldn't help but feel as though she was being watched. She walked back to her house. She turned the key in the lock. A hand grabbed her from behind. She gasped turning around. "hello sweet cheeks!" Helen felt a huge blow to her stomach. She dropped both her kit and her key to the ground. The shadow slung Helen over their shoulder. They took off before anyone had a chance to see them. Helen groaned quietly. Her vision slowly started to go dark.

 **I really want to apologize for the lack of updates. I have been very busy as of late. I promise you I am going to get this story updated as quickly as possible. I've also been waiting on some more input from my friend, Mo.**

 **As always I hope you guys enjoy. Read/Review. All that fun stuff. Please do leave a critique as it helps me function better as a writer. I will see you guys soon.**

 **-G**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Helen woke up to the light coming in through the bars of a window. She groaned quietly as she sat up. She moved her hands only to find them bound together with thick rope. She gasped looking around. A wooden door with bars across the window sat in the center of the room. She limped over to it. "Um? Excuse me?! Why am I here?!" she shouted. All she got back was silence. She then sat down in front of the door. Panic started to settle in. Her heart pounded in her chest. Was she going to die? Helen then heard somebody move outside of the door. "I take it you are awake now?" came a chilling voice. Helen gulped. "what-what do you want with me?" The voice laughed. "oh you'll find out soon enough. You see, a certain someone wants you gone. I'm just waiting on the transaction to come through so I can send you to an even nicer individual miles away from here." Helen balled up her fists. "you won't get away with this!" she spat. "oh save the brave speech! The damage is already done. I just hope you'll be able to have the chance to savor whatever moments you have left wherever it is you end up. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make two more visits. You'll have some more friends joining you soon enough."

Elvis cuddled up close to Sam. He laid on top of Sam's arm gently. He turned over onto his side. He let out a tired sigh. The baby and today's events drained him. His limps felt like stone. Sam rested his other arm around Elvis' shoulders. Elvis closes his eyes. He drifts off to sleep.

The late night hours soon came.

A shadow hovered in front of the broken cafe window. They carefully maneuvered their way through the shards of broken glass. The glass cast jagged teeth shadows onto the wooden floor. The shadow loomed over the couch. Elvis muttered quietly in his sleep. The shadow smiled. Their hands gently moved Sam's hand off Elvis. Sam began stirring. The shadow stopped watching him. Sam then went back to sleep. The shadow let out a sigh of relief. They picked Elvis up bridal style. They ventured back through the window. They scaled the rooftop.

Elvis felt cold air hit him suddenly. He shivered. He slowly opened his eyes. He found himself in the arms of an assassin. He let out a scream. The shadow growled. He placed his hand over his mouth. "Shut up!" he snapped.

Sam woke up. He had a strong feeling in his stomach. A deep snarl escaped his lips. He tossed the blanket back. He darted over to the window. He then began climbing up onto the roof. He changed into his tiefling form. His clothes laid in ripped piles on the roof as he took off running. He scaled roof after roof. He spotted a shadow with Elvis. Elvis turned his head. He smiled. "Sam! Help!" he yelled. The shadow growled. He drew his sword and shoved Elvis aside. "of course you just had to call for him! Alright, cat boy let's boogie!" Sam snarled. He let out a thunderous roar. He lunged right for Cren. Cren dodged out of the way. He took a swing at Sam with his rapier. Sam rolled out of the way. He turned his head. He brought his fangs down on Cren's side. Cren howled in pain. He jabbed his rapier right into Sam's side and cut down. Sam grimaced. He let go of Cren. Cren then kicked Sam hard in the jaw. He sent the tiefling spiraling backward. Elvis gasped. "Sam! Get up!" Cren grabbed Elvis by the arm. He then placed the blade to his throat. He put Elvis in front of him. "alright cat boy, make ya choice. You can either let me go with him or you can watch as I slaughter him and your cubs right in front of you." Sam snarled quietly. He got down on his hunches. He wasn't going to let this man run away with his mate. Elvis elbowed Cren in the side suddenly. He broke out of his hold forcing Cren to drop his sword. Elvis grabbed the blade. He swung at Cren. Cren growled. He then a spiral kick knocking Elvis away. Elvis grabbed the edge of the roof. Cren smiled. He walked over to Elvis. He brought his boot up. "you know the girl made me promise that I wasn't going to kill you but you know what? I actually might just do so." Sam rushed at Cren. He slammed his body into him. The both of them fell off the roof. "Sam!" shouts Elvis.

Sam and Cren landed in the streets. Sam pulled away from Cren. He lunged at him again. Cren picked up his fallen blade. He smiled as he waited for Sam to get closer to him. He cocked his arm back. Sam leaped into the air. Cren thrust his blade forward. Blood rained over him. Sam tumbled forward. He slid across the ground leaving a red streak. Cren lowered his bloodstained blade. He turned to face Sam. Sam weakly tried to get back on his feet. Cren then reached for the pistol on his belt. He took aim at Sam.

Elvis watched the scene unfold below him. Sam fell over again. Elvis knew he had to do something or else Sam was going to die. He swung his body close to where Cren was standing. He risked hurting his babies. He gulped as he swung his body outwards. He kept this up before letting go of the edge. He adjusts himself so he would land on top of Cren. He let out a battle cry. He dropped down on him. Cren looked up. He smiled. He took aim at Elvis.

BLAM!

The world went silent for a couple of moments. The gunshot wailed through the cold air. Crimson stained the white cement wall. Elvis laid on his side. He groaned quietly. His vision blurred in and out of focus. He felt somebody laying right next to him. He carefully turned over. His body ached. It convulsed suddenly. He clutched his stomach. Pain shot through his body. A figure slowly came towards them. They dragged their injured leg. Elvis saw them kick the body in front of them away. Elvis whimpered. "No...please.." he begged. The shadow picked him up. His vision then went dark.

The rain came down from the sky. Sam's body laid in the center of the street. The blood was being washed away by the rain. His blood created a mini river near the storm drain. The heavens were crying for him. Sam felt the last of the warmth leave his body. He failed. He failed in protecting his family. He waited for the sweet embrace of death to take him. He saw black spots in his vision. Sam was just about to go completely numb when he felt somebody lift him up. His body was dead weight. He hoped whoever had him was going to carry him into the spirit world.

Anika ran Sam back to her place. She clutched the wounded Tiefling in her arms. His blood stained her robes and cloak. She kicked in her front door. She laid him down on her couch. "hold in there, Sammy." she begged. She fished a med kit out from underneath her sink. She knelt by his body. Her hands worked to fix him gently. "Elv...I'm sorry." she heard him rasp. "I've failed you...he's taken you." His eyes shut. He went quiet. Anika wrapped a blanket around him carefully. "shh just rest." she whispered. She stroked the top of his head. Tears formed in her eyes. It pained her to see Sam injured. "Anika." came a voice. The voice sent a deep chill down her spine. She turned to see a purple cloaked man with a wolf walk into her house. "Y-Y-your early." she stammered. The man smiled. He was an older male with greying black hair. One of his eyes was a stunning blue shade while the other a piercing grey. He closed the door behind him. "well you asked for the House to send someone to aide in these dying times so I came to see you personally." He let the wolf off its lead. The wolf found a quiet corner of her house to lay in. Anika nods. "of course." She gently laid Sam's head down on a pillow. "I sense Samuel is here." commented Taniks as he removed his cloak. "is he not well?" Anika shakes her head. "no, your lordship. He is gravely injured." Taniks looked over her shoulder. He frowned when he saw the state that Sam was in. "I see. How did he end up injured?" he questioned. "I'm not sure. I suspect a bullet wound. I heard a gunshot go off behind the Wholefish cafe." she eyed Taniks carefully. "this Cren fellow appears to be going after members of the Jones family. A woman by the name of Bronwyn has disappeared as well." says Taniks as he sits down in one of the dining room chairs. "I sensed her aura fade away as I arrived. She wasn't in the cafe when I checked. Such a shame that all of this tragedy is going on." Anika felt her heart rate pick up. "I'm going to fix this." Taniks holds up his hand. "I know you will. There is one matter I wish to discuss with you. Tomorrow is the Blood Moon. The seal holding Kora will be broken." Anika gulped. "that's what I was afraid of. Mandy is behind all of this." Taniks taps the ground in front of him with the tip of his cane. "a woman ruled by jealousy and desperation. A child who has yet to find her place in this world." He shakes his head. "I shall lead you, my aide. For now, rest. We'll talk more in the morning."

Elvis slowly started to come to. A black fabric had been placed over his head. He felt the thick rope around his hands and ankles. He whimpered softly as a bolt of pain shot through him. A deep pain twinged in his heart. Tears formed in his eyes. He curled up into a ball at the realization of why he was here. He had been kidnapped. They were going to do terrible things to him. A strong hand picked him up by the back of the neck. They forced him to his feet. He stumbled a bit. "come on you. You're going to a nice little location. The person taking care of you has offered us a lot of money." Elvis whimpered. He opened his mouth. A long, painful wail came out of it. The figure tossed him into the back of a truck. They slammed the doors. A cold wind greeted Elvis. He shivered. He felt the truck begin to move. Tears streamed down his face. The love his life laid dead on the street. Sam was never going to be able to see their kids. He started sobbing quietly to himself. It was just him in the back of this truck. His sobs turned to wails of distress. Pain shot through his body. He pressed his bound hands as far as he could get to his stomach. "D-d-don't worry. Daddy has you. You're going to be okay." he rasped. He touched his womb the best he could. "I-I-I-m going to protect you." Exhaustion crashed over him. His body slowed down from the cold. He fell into a dreamless sleep.

The first few rays of dawn poked over the horizon. The orange rays lit the mountainside with fire. Clouds settled near the tips of the mountains. The light slowly trickled through the hole in the rock near the waterfall. Anika slowly woke up. She hadn't slept well the night before. The whole situation had kept her up. She tossed the blankets back. She ventured into the living room. She found Sam missing from the couch. His blanket laid on the floor. She frowned. She grabbed her cloak. She walked out of the house to look for him.

The waterfall shimmered in the darkness. The orange light touched the tip of it. It leaked down creating an almost white halo on the surface. Anika saw Sam sitting up on one of the rocks. He was staring at his reflection down below. "Sammy?" He moved his ears back to show that he was listening. She climbed up with him. "hey Tiger." she whispered. Sam chuffed sadly. She rubbed his back. "everything is going to be okay. I'm going to do everything I can to find them. I'm going to talk to Finley today." Sam looked at his paws. "honey, this isn't your fault." She rested a hand on his shoulder. "we'll find Elvis and the others. I promise you." She holds him close. Sam shifted back into his human form. Anika blushed. She put her cloak around him. "honey, your nude again." Sam smirked slightly. He slid off the rock. He followed her back to the cabin.

Taniks had a kettle of tea on the stove. His back was to them. "morning you two." he greeted. Sam eyed him. "what's he doing here?" asked Sam. "Samuel, is that any way of greeting the person who has offered to help find your missing friends? I'm hurt." scoffed Taniks. "I thought you would be happy to see me."

A soft snarl escaped Sam's lips. Anika places a hand on his shoulder. Sam relaxed. "take a seat. We have much to discuss."

Meanwhile,

Elvis slowly started to come to. He heard people talking around him. "wake up." Elvis groaned quietly. His limbs felt numb and wet. A boot met his side. "wake up!"Elvis slowly sat upright. His body was sore. He coughed. Two strong hands yanked him upwards. Elvis swayed. His clothes were damped and iced over. "take him to his house." snapped the voice. Elvis felt the two figures next to him half carry, half drag him along with them.

The camp was nestled between two snowy mountains. The rocks were covered in thick ice. Figures wearing coats stood around them. The guards dragged Elvis into a rundown cabin. They shoved him into it. Elvis heard the door slam behind him. Elvis fell to his knees. He began sobbing quietly to himself. He hugged his knees. He laid on his side. He was cold, out in the middle of nowhere, and who knows what these soldiers were going to do to him. Pain shot through him again. He clenched his stomach. He found an empty spot on the floor and vomited his guts out.

Elvis must have been laying on his side for a good fifteen minutes. He heard the door to his cabin open. A figure walked inside. They were a white snow owl wearing a dark white jacket with brown fur on the rims of their sleeves. A long rifle hung from their back. Their gold eyes fell upon Elvis. Elvis began backing up. "you stay away!" he growled. He kept one hand over his stomach protecting it. "go away!" The owl tilted its head. They moved closer to him. Their voice had a light screechy tone as they talked. "do not fear, Small one. I am not here to hurt you." Elvis eyed her carefully. They knelt in front of him. They noticed the wound on Elvis' shoulder. "your hurt." They reached out a wing to him. Elvis whimpered. He winced when they touched it. "hmm it's infected. Come. I'll fix it."

The owl leads Elvis over to the couch. Bile rose in his throat. He wanted to vomit again. He laid down on the couch. The owl carefully unbuttoned his shirt. The wound was a wicked red color. "idiots." she spat under her breathe. She took out her first aid kit. She began working on it. "why are you helping me?" rasped Elvis. "I do not wish to hurt you. You are pregnant. Our job is to hold you here until it is time. The others have plans for you." she replied. "I'm Alisha." Elvis coughed. "Elvis." She finished healing his wound. "there we are. You sleep now. I'll get you food and medicine." Elvis laid on his side. She gently laid a blanket over him. The blanket was made of a soft fur. Elvis sighed tiredly. He felt the wings of exhaustion take hold of him.

 _Elvis ran across the rooftops. He could hear footsteps behind him. He cast a glance over his shoulder. He gasped seeing a large shadow behind him. "no! Stay back!" he yelled. He picked up the pace. A large space between rooftops appeared in front of him. Elvis paused. He held his hands up to protect himself. He heard a loud roar shrill through the air. He spotted Sam running towards him. "Sam!" The shadow smacked Elvis off the roof. Elvis felt the darkness swallow him. He began falling. "SAM!" A gunshot wailed through the air._

Elvis bolted upright in bed. He panted only to howl in pain. He placed a hand over his stomach. Sweat dripped down his face. The blanket fell past his shoulders. He turned his head. He heaved only to find that nothing was coming up. He groaned before laying down again. His vision blurred. His hand shook as he gripped the bottom of his shirt. "shh it's okay. Daddy has you." he whispered comfortingly to his stomach. He knew the baby was upset. "shh it's alright now." His eyes slowly began to close. "it's...alright." His eyes closed shut.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen:

Alisha came into the cabin later on that day. She found Elvis asleep on his side. His hand clutched protectively over his stomach. Alisha frowned. She felt his forehead with her wing. He had a light fever. She knelt by his side. She heard a heavy knock at the door. She growled quietly. She went over to the door and answered it. One of the soldiers approached her. "bring him to the main tent. The leader wishes to speak with him." Alisha nods. She gently taps Elvis awake. Elvis sits upright. "come. We have to leave now." Elvis nods slowly. His head rang. He got to his feet weakly. He clutched the blanket tightly around him. He followed after her.

Alisha leads Elvis to a tent in the center of the camp. He stumbled in. There were several TV's hanging in front of him. Soldiers stood at each corner creating a circle. One of the soldiers forced Elvis to his knees. He had a barrel pointed at his head. Elvis gulped. He stared at the screen. The screen showed static for a while before a figure flashed on it. Their pale outline showed underneath a single hanging bulb. "excellent. I'm glad he made it to the camp in one piece. Now to get to business." The other screens flashed to life. Elvis gasped when he saw Helen, Bronwyn, and Ellie all one screen. "You bastard! Let them go!" he yelled. "Silence!" One of the soldiers hit him across the face.

Mandy turned her attention to the camera behind her. She smiled. "hello Hoshi. It's so good to see you again. It's a shame that this is the means that you and I have in which to communicate now. You see these wonderful people on screen?" She motions to the three screens behind her. "you have to bring Gess as well as turn yourself into the police for kidnapping. Refuse, and they will be put to sleep." Elvis whimpered quietly as the screens went dark. The only one on was the center screen. Mandy smiled wickedly at Elvis. "however, one of you isn't going to get out of this place. Not without turning over something of importance. Mandy, out." The screen goes dark. The soldiers pull Elvis to his feet. Alisha wraps her wings around him. She takes him out of the tent. "wha-what do you want with me?" asked Elvis. He was scared. "shh not here." whispered Alisha. She opened the door to the cabin. Elvis stumbled into the cabin. Alisha closed the door behind them. She lets out a sigh. "Mandy plans on keeping you and the kids as bargaining chips to use against Sam. Kora is supposed to be making her appearance tonight. The two of them have some sort of deal planned." Elvis gasped. Alisha placed a wing on his shoulder. "don't worry. I have a plan for when the time comes for those children to be born." Elvis gulped painfully. "thank you, Alisha." She helped him over to the couch. "now rest. I have somethings I have to do. I'll be by later to make you something to eat." Elvis nods. He lays back down on the couch. Alisha glanced over her shoulder one last time before leaving the cabin.

Hoshi and his brother had moved in with Finley. Hoshi paced the living room lost in thought. Gess stopped playing with Leo for a minute. He watched his father worriedly. Something slid underneath the door. "Papa, there's something underneath the door." Hoshi goes over to it. He gently picks up the small envelope. He opens it up to see a CD in it. He frowns. He then takes out his phone. "Anika, I need you to come over, please. I just received a CD of sorts. I don't want to view what's on here unless you are here." He nods his head in understanding. "alright. Thanks." He puts his phone away. He sits down on the couch with the CD.

Anika and company arrived at Hoshi's house 15 minutes later. Anika places the CD into her disc drive. The screen crackles to life.

 _Static. The video cuts to a dark figure standing in the center of a room. There are a total of three TVs behind them._

 _"Hello, Hoshi." greets the figure in a dark voice. "gosh it's been a while since we've really talked, hasn't it? Shame that you and I must negotiate this way. Now I'm sure my little agent has already paid you a visit. You see, I have something for you."_

 _Figure motions to the screens behind them. Helen, Bronwyn, Ellie, and Elvis all show up on the screens._

 _"These people are rather important to you, aren't they? Tell you what. Let's make a bit of a deal. You bring me Gess and turn yourself into the police for kidnapping him, and I'll let them go or I'll let three of them go. One of them must stay behind as Kora has plans for them." The figure leans into the screen. "you have 48 hours to make your decision. I'll be sending my friend by to collect the bounty."_

 _Screen goes dark. The box closes out_

Hoshi balled up his fist. "that bastard of a woman!" he spat. Anika closes her laptop. "she's gone too far this time." she murmured. She sets the laptop down. Taniks scratches underneath his chin. "what a strange dilemma you appear to be in." he comments. "3 lives on the line, over a child and the ending of a life. Such a bastard move indeed." He gets up. "there is only one solution to this mess. We don't give the woman what she wants." He looks at Hoshi. "what about Elvis? What about the others?" asked Sam. Taniks holds up his hand. "we have 48 hours, right? We search for them. An action of cruelty does not go unnoticed." He sets his cane down on the ground. "I shall contact some of my men in the meantime. Do not make a rash decision without me."

Gess feels a painful lump form in his throat. "no. I have to go to her." he said. Hoshi turns to his son. Sadness flashed across his face. "buddy, we'll figure all of this out." Gess gets up. "no dad, she'll only hurt you more." He runs over to his dad. He hugs him tightly. Tears form in Hoshi's eyes. "I can't lose you but if this your choice." Hoshi holds him close. Gess leans up against his dad. "I love you." Hoshi rubs his shoulder. "I love you too, buddy."

The late night hours soon came. Hoshi waited on the docks with Gess. He held onto Gess for dear life. He prevented himself from crying. Gess hugged his father's neck. "so you actually came?" Hoshi turned around. A figure wearing a red cloak stood underneath one of the street lamps. Hoshi snarled. "hand over the child." Hoshi hesitated. Gess nodded his head at him. Hoshi sighed and set him down. Gess went over to the figure. "good man." The figure then raised their wrist at him. "you know, Mandy changed her mind about you being behind bars." The figure smiled.

BLAM!

"Papa!"

Hoshi's form fell into the water. The figure slid their weapon back underneath the arm of their cloak. He picked up Gess. "come along kid." Gess sobbed. "PAPA!" Blood appeared on the surface of the water. Hoshi sank to the bottom of the ocean. A stream of red floated from his stomach. Bubbles left the corner of his mouth as he took his final breath.

"Hoshi!"

"Hoshi!"

"come on lad! Wake up!" begged a voice. Ben was doing chest compressions on Hoshi. Hoshi coughed up water and blood. He wheezed. Ben let out a sigh of relief. He had tied his belt around the wound to stabilize it. Hoshi turned his head. He looked at Ben. "you gave me quite a scare there, Hoshi." Hoshi sobbed. "Gess, he gave himself up to protect us. Mandy wanted me dead." Ben sighs. He picked Hoshi up bridal-style. "come on. Let's get you back to Finley's."

Ben carried Hoshi back to Finley's house. He laid him down on the couch. Anika got to work on fixing up his wound. Hoshi whimpered softly. Another envelope was stuck underneath the door. Ben picked it up. "Hoshi, this envelope is for you." Anika motioned to her laptop. "bring it over here, Now." Ben nodded. He hands her the laptop. Anika places the CD into the disk drive.

 _Screen crackles to life_

 _Camera opens up on Ellie laying down on an operation table_

 _Ellie struggles to try and pull free of her restraints. A man wearing a lab coat walks into the room. Ellie looks at them. "what are you doing?" she snarls. "just relax." he cooed. He lifts up a needle. "you won't feel a thing. The effects are only temporary." He sticks the needle into her arm. He injects her with a dark red liquid. Ellie cries out in pain. Her breathe gets stuck in her chest. Dark fur starts to grow on her. She lets out another cry of pain. Her voice slowly becoming beast-like. Her clothes begin tearing._

Anika gasps quietly. "no. They aren't-"

 _Ellie finishes changing. A black-furred Tiefling lays on the bed. Her fangs snap. She whips her head around. She pulls free of her restraints. The doctor backs up into the wall. He lets out a scream as Ellie goes right for him._

Anika goes completely pale. She looks at Taniks. "can they create Hunters forcefully?" she asks. Taniks nods his head slowly. Anika drops to one knee. "what have they done to Ellie." She keeps watching the screen.

 _The door to the room suddenly opens. A ginger-haired female comes walking in. Ellie looks at her. She lets out a hiss. "oh shush. You should be thanking me." The female kneels down in front of her. She has another needle in her hand. "I've got the cure to make it all better. That's what you and Sam want right?" Ellie eyes her. "I can make that evil all go away if you just work with me for a while. What do you say?" Ellie flattens her ears back. She lowers her head as an answer. The female smile. "glad we could come to an agreement." She gets up. She motions for Ellie to follow her. Ellie walks out of the room hesitantly._

 _Camera feed changes to a camera inside of Bronwyn's room._

Sam gets close to the laptop. He gasps when he sees how terrified and broken Bronwyn looked.

 _The door to the room opens. Ellie and the female come walking in. Bronwyn has been bound to the wall. The female injects Ellie with something. It's the same dark red liquid from before. Ellie lets out a yowl._

Sam's hand tenses up. He recognized that yowl. "no. Ellie don't."

 _Ellie lunged forward. Bronwyn let out a loud scream. Ellie tore into her. Her fangs planted themselves firmly on her neck. Bronwyn screamed again. She tried to get Ellie off her. Ellie began draining her. Bronwyn whimpered quietly. She felt cold. Ellie finally pulled away once she was satisfied. She licked the blood from her lips. Her eyes turned a deeper shade of red. Painful glowing veins began to form on her. There was something unnatural about her current form. Ellie and the female left the room._

Sam watched as Bronwyn clung to life. The window closed. He slammed the laptop shut. He snarled. Anika placed a hand on his shoulder. "we'll put an end to this, Samuel." Anika gets to her feet. "Taniks, you go back to the House and see if you can't get help. I'm going with Sam, Hoshi, Penny, and Finley." Taniks nods. He bows. "as you wish." Sam turned to Anika. "we may need to bring Winter, he's good at tracking." Anika nods. "fair point. I'll talk to him." Sam felt a heavy feeling wash over him. He held it together. He needed to get out of the house.

Sam left the house as soon as Anika had her back turned. Pain shot through his body. "no. No. I have to-" he grunted. He quickly took off running. He ran down the Newtown road. He whimpered and cried out in pain with every shudder that went through him. He banged on Penny's door. "Penny! Help!" he shouts. Penny opened the door. She gasped when she saw the panicked look on Sam's face. "get in." Sam dragged himself into her house. Pain shot through him again. His eyes went from blue to red. He let out a loud yowl. Penny shivered. She closed the door out of instinct. She watched as her friend convulsed on the floor. His body made loud cracking sounds. Sam howled in pain. Penny knelt by him. She wrapped her arms around him.

Sam stared at his hands. His nails grew longer. Ginger fur started appearing on his skin. His mouth started hurting all of a sudden. He looked at Penny. His ears came to a point. He curled up into a ball. Air got trapped in his lungs. The back of his shirt ripped revealing a patch of ginger fur on his back. His shirt sleeves gave way showing off his muscular arms. Sam got down on all fours. His feet burst through his shoes. He felt pressure on the back of his shorts. His tail pushed out through it. His shorts began to rip. Sam groaned. He spasmed one more time. A loud snarl came out of his throat. The rest of his clothes ripped away. What stood before Penny was a huge, four-legged cat. Horns grew out of his head. He let out a hiss. Penny backed up slowly. Sam lunged for her. Penny let out a scream.

She waited for the blow. She opened her eyes to find Sam standing over her. She trembled in front of him. Sam lowered his head. Penny whimpered. She closed her eyes as he brought his fangs close to her. She felt something wet go across her cheek. She opened an eye. She let out a sigh of relief. "don't scare me like that you bastard!" she snaps. She tossed her arms around his neck. She heard what sounded like a laugh. She noticed the bloodlust on his face. She sighed. She unbuttoned her shirt. Sam stared at her in confusion. A slow blush spread across his face. He looked away politely. Penny lowered the right side of her shirt where the wound she had was. "here. You need it." Sam looked at her. "just take it. You'll get weak without it." Sam hummed at her. "I'm sure." She closed her eyes. "just be gentle." Sam hesitated. He then placed his fangs carefully over her shoulder. He felt Penny wince. He used a paw to steady himself as he drew blood from her.

Penny started to feel really warm. "Sammy...what are you doing to me?" she murmured tiredly. She felt high and also horny. She had a big, dumb grin on her face. "hey sexy." she purred. Sam blushed. He let go of her once he had enough. He caught her in his front paws. Penny stroked his cheek. "did anybody tell you how pretty you look?" Sam snarled at her in warning. "ah come on Sammy, don't be that way." He rolled his eyes. He tossed her onto his back as he carried her upstairs to her room.

He laid her down on the bed. He grabbed the blanket between his fangs and draped it over her. Penny settled down to rest. "Kitty! Rest with me!" she cooed. Sam flickered his ears in response. He curled up right beside her. Penny wrapped her arms around his neck. She planted a kiss on his cheek. "night night Kitty!" Sam huffed in reply. He laid his head down to rest.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen:

 _Penny felt panic start to settle in. The hallway stretched onwards into the horizon. She found it hard to grip the tile as she ran. She cast a glance behind her. She gasped seeing a shape behind her. It was running right at her. Penny picked up the pace. She tried her best to stay ahead of the figure. She slowed once she saw a familiar shape in front of her. A relieved look flashed across her face. "Ellie!" Ellie looked up at her. Her form seemed to flicker in and out of focus. A wicked smile formed on Ellie's lips. Sharp fangs appeared in her mouth. Ellie lunged for Penny. Penny froze. She watched as Ellie's form shifted into a hideous monster. She saw her world go black._

Penny bolted upright in bed. She grasped her chest. She panted looking around her room. Sam was still resting quietly next to her. She let her hand fall back onto the sheet next to her. Tears fell down her face. _Ellie...she would never do anything to harm me. She wouldn't hurt me. God, it's like every hour that she's gone, the more I'm worried about her. I can't be away from her a moment longer._ Penny tossed the blankets back. She hopped out of bed. Sam snorted. He soon curled up. Penny let out a soft sigh. She had to get to her sister's room.

She tip-toed out of her room. She spotted a light underneath her sister's door. She pressed herself up against it. She heard a voice on the other side of it. "I've managed to find two out of the four people missing."

Finley nodded. "good. Have you found out Elvis' location yet?"

Donovan shook his head. "no Mi Amor, I'm working on it. Ellie and Bronwyn are being held in an animal testing facility in Egypt. I'm waiting to hear back from my contact about Helen also. The problem is tracking a moving target."

Finley crossed her arms. "you should be pretty good at that. I'm sure you can find a contact of Kora's."

Donovan smiles. "you don't worry about me, honey. Chat later. Daddy has some work to do." Finley rolls her eyes. She hangs up the call. Penny moves away from the door. _Egypt huh? Where in Egypt though?_ She heads back to her room. Penny quickly shoves some clothes into a bag. She slings it over her shoulder. _I need to find one of Kora's contacts. Talking to Norman seems like a very good idea. Perhaps I can get some information out of him._ Penny looked over her shoulder. Penny carefully opened up her window. She climbed out the window and onto the street.

Penny headed to the shop. She pushed open the door noticing that it was unlocked. _Strange. I thought Dilys usually kept the door locked._ She looked around. Everything seemed normal. She made her way up the stairs. She heard snoring coming from the top of the stairwell. She let out a sigh of relief. She reached the top of the stairs. Her blood suddenly ran cold. A figure she didn't recognize was sleeping on the couch. She sat her bag down on the corner of the steps. She walked over to the figure. She paused. They had on assassin's robes. Their robes were stained in a dark liquid. She paled. They stirred quietly. Penny ducked behind the couch. The figure turned over onto their side. Penny glanced at them over the couch again. _If there's an assassin here, that means._ Penny crept away from the couch. She had to check on Dilys.

She opened the door to Dilys' room. Her heart fell to her feet. She spotted two shapes laying side by side on the floor. She knelt by them. She turned one of them over. Dilys was way past alive. There was a deep cut on her stomach. Penny felt for a pulse. "no pulse." she whispers. Tears started to form in her eyes. She then checked the other shape. It whimpered softly when she touched it. "Winter? What happened?" she asked quietly. Winter opened his maw only to close it. Tears streamed down his face. "shh baby. I'm going to get you out of here." Penny put Winter onto her back. "the bag. Grab the bag." rasps Winter. "next to Cren." Penny nodded. "just keep your voice down."

Penny went back into the living room. She searched the room. She managed to find the bag Winter was talking about. She grabbed that and her own. She quickly made her way out of the shop. Winter sobbed quietly into her neck.

Finley went to check on her sister. She frowned when she discovered that her sister's window had been opened. She looked out of it. She spotted her sister heading towards the house. Relief flashed across her face. She grew serious when she saw Winter bleeding out on Penny's back. She closed the window and went downstairs to meet up with them. "what happened?" she asked. Penny handed her the bloodied bag. "I overheard you talking to Donovan. I wanted to find more information. Sadly, it was at the expense of finding out that Dilys had been killed." Winter held onto Penny tightly. "Winter is hurt. We have to help him." Finley nodded. "get him inside."

Penny laid Winter down on the couch. She retrieved her med kit from the kitchen. She got to work on patching him up. "I'm scared." whispered Winter. "don't be. Your safe now." Penny gently rubbed him between the ears. "just rest. We'll talk in the morning." Winter laid his head down. Penny wrapped bandages around his chest and his right forearm. She draped a blanket over him. She gets back up. "check the bag, Finley."

Finley unzipped the bag that Penny had retrieved. She found a set of viles in the front pocket. She set the viles down on the table. The viles contained a dark red liquid of some sort. A set of documents caught Finley's attention. She plucked them out of the bag. Her eyes moved across the page.

 _Cren-_

 _This is of the utmost importance. I want you to report to Griffin's Peak in Brazil. They'll need those viles in order to begin the corruption experiment. I'm also flying the one called Ellie to you later on tonight. Do not fall asleep on the job._

 _You have free range to kill anyone who stands in your way. However, don't make a mess. You still have the rest of the Jones family to deal with. Start your search in finding Sam's nephew._

 _-Kora_

 _Cren-_

 _Ellie should be arriving within the next hour. Do your best to make sure our little pet is satisfied. She should be able to obey you now without question. If not, use the viles I have set with you. There's another vat of them in the back pocket._

 _I need a full report on our friends in the Broken Isles. The last I heard about the female named Helen, she's heading to Cardiff. She'll be worked on there. I'm glad the girl allowed us to use her mother as a test subject._

 _-Kora_

Finley's hand shook. "at least we know where Helen is." She looked up at her sister. "you should head down to the docks. According to these documents," she shows them to her sister. "she should be arriving any moment now." Penny smiled. She hugged Finley. She ran out of the house.

Finley continued to search through the bag. She found more viles and another device she wasn't familiar with. She inspected it. The device kind of had a grappling hook look to it. The hook glimmered in the darkness. She noticed there was a vile of that dark liquid flowing through it. She set the device down on the table. "I need to send this to Donny. He's better at these sorts of things." She cringed at the thought of having to talk to him. She looked at the final document.

 _Kora-_

 _I've got news from the Frozen Fang camp in Antartica. They say Elvis has escaped. I'm working on trying to capturing him again. I don't know how long that will be. I'm doing everything I can._

 _-Cren_

Finley smiled. She tucked the documents back into the bag. She quickly ran upstairs to her room.

Penny made her way to the harbor. She hid behind the door to the ORC. She kept a crack in the door frame big enough for her to see. She heard an engine pull up. A metal cage rattled. A sharp hiss rang out through the stale air. Penny suddenly stopped breathing for a moment. Cren smiled as Kora's men approached him with the cage between them. A black-furred shape paced around in its cage. "glad you guys could finally arrive." sneered Cren. He knelt down in front of the creature. "hello beautiful." he purred. He stuck his fingers into the cage. "Did you miss me, beautiful?" Ellie gently touched the palm of his hand with her nose. Penny gasped. "Ellie, what have they done to you?" She continued watching them. Cren undid the lock on Ellie's cage. Ellie stepped out onto the cobblestone walkway. She sniffed the air. A warm scent suddenly hit her radar. She turned her head. She snarled at the door to the ORC. Penny began shaking. This was just like her dream. She moved away from the door. Cren smiled. "looks like you have your first hunt of the night." He unclipped Ellie's leash. "go and get them."

Penny ran out of the ORC. She heard a loud yowl behind her. She gritted her teeth. She kept from screaming. She had to make it back to the house. Ellie's claws scrapped on the cobblestone. Her fangs showed in the darkness. She had her mouth open in excitement. This human was going to be her first kill. She picked up the pace. Her Tiefling reflexes made her faster than Penny. Penny looked over her shoulder. She felt Ellie slam into her. Ellie screeched in her face. She snapped her fangs at her. Penny placed her hands around Ellie's muzzle. She pushed her head back. She used her foot to shove Ellie off her. Ellie shook her head. She hissed and went for Penny again.

A ginger blur jumped out of the window. It ran directly at Ellie. Ellie leaped into the air. Penny closed her eyes. Suddenly a piercing screech wailed through the air. Penny opened one of her eyes. She spotted Sam in front of her with Ellie pinned to the wall by his claws. Ellie hissed at him. She snapped her fangs. Sam snarled. He grabbed her by the throat. He gave her a few good shakes before tossing her aside. Ellie caught her balance. She lunged at Sam. Sam batted her away with his paw. He stood protectively in front of Penny. He looked at her. He huffed at her. She checked herself over. "yeah. I'm fine. Thank you." She saw Sam smiled. He turned his attention to Ellie. Ellie screeched. Her eyes turned completely black. Dark red veins of sorts grew on her face. They pulsated. Ellie lunged at Sam. She wrapped her long body around his. Her fangs came down on his chest. Sam roared loudly in pain. He planted his fangs on her shoulder. He swung his head, ripping her off him. He tossed her aside.

Penny watched the scene unfold in front of her. Ellie quickly got back on her feet. "Stop!" she yells. Ellie swung her head. She hisses. "Ellie, this isn't you. You wouldn't attack the ones you care about." Ellie licked her chops at Penny. Her hackles rose. "El, I love you. Please don't do this. This isn't you. You would never hurt me." Penny holds her arms out to her. Ellie snarls at her. She raises her head in confusion. This human wasn't afraid of her. Penny kept her arms out. "come back to me."

Ellie continued to stare at Penny. Memories flashed inside of her head. Ellie shook her head. She let out another snarl. The veins in her face pulsated painfully. She was losing control of herself. She knew who this person was. The beast inside of her wasn't having it. She closed her eyes. She placed her claws on her head and screeched. Her mind faded away for a moment. She could catch glimpses of her previous life. This person knew her. This person was too important to kill.

Penny walked over to Ellie. She knelt down in front of her. She gently placed a hand on her snout. "easy girl. Come back to me." she whispers. Ellie's eyes opened again. She looked up to see Penny staring at her. Tears well up in her eyes. She nuzzled Penny's hand. Penny smiled. "that's my girl." She let Ellie headbutt her stomach. She wrapped her arms around Ellie's neck.

Cren watched the scene from down below. He frowned. "ah well. It was fun while it lasted." He took aim at Ellie.

"BLAM!"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"BLAM!"

Penny felt someone shove the both of them away. Penny looked up to see Sam standing guard behind them. His blood dripped onto the ground from the freshly made bullet hole in his shoulder. He snarled loudly. Penny saw a shadow flicker on the ground. A shape landed a few feet from them.

Cren smirked at them. "well, well, well if it ain't fireboy and friends. Let me guess, you couldn't resist coming to their aide, eh?" he sneered. Sam snarled in reply. "you know...I was just going to eliminate your friends there and call it a night but killing all three of you will work too." A red aura surrounded Cren. He pulled out a small gun out from under his cloak. The tip of it was glowing. Sam let out a menacing roar. He leaped at Cren.

BLAM!

BLAM!

BLAM!

Cren felt a pair of fangs go into his arm. Sam had clamped his jaws around Cren's wrist. He swung his head sending Cren flying off into the wall. Penny saw blood pooling under Sam from the three bullet wounds under him. She watched as Sam leaped at Cren again. His paw had the sniper pinned to the wall. Cren struggled to pull free. "you won't be strong enough to kill me, Samuel!" he spat. He kept hold of his gun. He turned it slightly to the side and aimed it at Sam's stomach. Sam kept a hold on him. He brought his fangs down on Cren's neck.

BLAM!

Cren's gun dropped to the ground. Sam let his body slump onto the cold pavement. Sam winced. He collapsed.

"Sam!" shouted Penny. She raced over to him. "Sam?" She gently turned him over. A bright blue light surrounded Sam's body. He reverted back to his human form. "hang in there, Sammy." she begged quietly. She checked his neck for a pulse. He had one but it was very weak. She fished her phone out of her pocket and called Anika.

Penny dragged Sam into the house. She felt her knees buckle under his weight. She laid Sam down in the center of her living room. Ellie churred nervously behind her. "it's okay." comforted Penny. She knelt by Sam's body. She got to work on patching him up. She noticed Sam's wounds were already closing on their own. He slowly started to come to again. "Elvis..." he rasped. Penny ran a hand down his feverish cheek gently. "shh Sam. Don't try to move. You've been shot. You need to rest until Anika gets here." Sam tries to sit up. He shoves Penny's hand away from him. His eyes turned red. Ellie raised her quills at him in warning. She hissed quietly. Penny pushes Sam down again. He whimpered quietly before blacking out again.

Ellie rested her head up against Penny's back. She felt her sway. Ellie whimpered in response. Her girlfriend fell onto her side, exhausted. Ellie nudged her hand. She cooed at her. When she got no reply, she laid real quietly next to her.

Anika soon walks in. She gasps seeing both Sam and Winter. Ellie whimpers quietly at her. She nudges Penny. Anika kneels by Sam. "I know Ellie." she rubs Ellie between the ears. "let me get them fixed up. Take Penny up to bed for me, okay?" Ellie nods in response. Anika carefully put Penny on her back. Ellie carried her up the stairs. She paused right outside of Leon's room when she heard stirring on the other side of the door. She pokes her head in. Leon turns over onto his side. He sighs softly. Ellie feels a purr well up in her chest. She continues to trot past his room.

She carefully lays down on the bed with Penny on her back. She curls up keeping her girlfriend warm. A soft purr tumbled out of her chest. She rested her head on Penny's back. She wraps her tail around the lower part of the back. She drifts off to sleep.

Cold winds buffeted the walls of the cave. Elvis shivered in front of the fire. His blue eyes focused on the flames. He had one arm rested on his stomach. _I have to get my family far away from here. Sam isn't around to protect us anymore. I have to keep running. I have to keep them safe._ He grunts as a wave of pain coursed through him again. He coughs into his hand. _We won't survive out here. I have to keep going._ He settles down on the cot he had under him. He smiles as he touches his stomach. _Don't worry babies. Daddy has you. He won't let anything bad happen to you._ He feels exhaustion slowly overtake him. He drifts off to sleep.

Elvis woke up to the pale blue light coming in through the clouds. The winds had died down enough to make the landscape visible again. A loud growl came from his stomach. He groans quietly. _I guess I better try to hunt something. I ran out of rations a while back._ He grabs the rifle he had sitting next to him and stands up. He rests a hand on his stomach. "let's see if daddy can't put those new hunting skills of his to good use, eh?"

Elvis scored the land around him. His senses were on high alert. During his time at the Frozen Fang Camp, Elvis had undergone testing to push the limits of his Hunter Resistant DNA. They amplified his senses to help him pick up on threats. His vision was a tad sharper too. He put the scope of his rifle to his eye. He frowned when he found nothing. He decided to keep going.

He was about 10 miles away from the cave. His heart rate instantly picked up. Something told him he wasn't alone. He couldn't afford to get caught by another human or even a predator. He scanned the landscape again. He heard something move next to him. He spotted an old seal moving around on the ice. Elvis gulped. He hesitated. He then shook his head. _Come on Elvis, you can't hesitate now. I know you don't like doing this but you have to. The kids have to live. Just remember what Alisha said._ He takes aim again. His finger slowly squeezes the trigger.

BANG!

The seal let out a painful wail. It turned around. The bullet planted itself in its shoulder. Elvis took aim again. The seal quickly moved towards him. Elvis' hand shook as he kept the barrel pointed at the seal.

BANG!

The seal bashed into Elvis. The bullet went into the ice in front of him. Elvis rolled onto his side. He screamed holding his stomach. The seal reared gnashing its fangs. It went right for his neck. Elvis rolled out of the way. He yanked a small blade off his belt. He jumped onto the back of it. The seal thrashed thro and fro. Elvis held on. He plunged his blade into the seal's neck. He cut down slowly. The seal howled again. Elvis continued to hold on. The seal managed to toss Elvis off it. Elvis rolled backward. Elvis moaned quietly. He panted. He dragged himself away from the seal. He began reaching for his rifle. The seal snarled at him. It slaughtered towards him. Elvis held the rifle in front of him. He squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

The bullet went right through its forehead. It slumped onto the ground. Elvis lowered his rifle. He panted. A bolt of pain shot through him. He gripped his stomach. His vision blurred in and out. _No! Not now! Please! I have to get back._ He used his rifle as a crutch to help him sit up. He gripped the barrel of it. His knees shook underneath him. He limped over to the fallen seal. It's gaze focused on the horizon. He knelt the best he could in front of it. He stared the beast directly in its eyes. "thank you for your life. I promise that no part of you will go to waste. Allow your spirit to join your brothers and sisters in Hircine's hunting grounds." he whispers. He watched as the last of the light faded from the seal's eyes.

Elvis dragged the seal's body all the way back to his cave. He felt really weak all of a sudden. His knees buckled. He was only a few steps away before he collapsed.

 **EDIT:**

 **Hey guys as some of you guys have noticed, the recent chapter is missing. Why? Because I noticed that there was an issue in terms of plot with the chapter. I took it down so I can fix it. Rest assured! I will restore it soon! It'll be a lot longer than normal that way you guys have something to chew on while I work hard to develop the other one.**

 **I do apologize for the inconvience and will work hard with my translator to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. Thank you for your time!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One:

Elvis' vision blurred in and out. He mustered enough strength to try and drag himself further. He felt his strength leaving him. His heart pulsated in his chest. His body completely numb from the cold. He couldn't feel his body anymore. His vision started developing black spots. Each spot grew bigger and bigger until it blocked out the light. His hand weakly reached towards the entrance. He blacked out again.

Elvis' vision came back into view an hour later, he felt his body being dragged through the ice. Figures rose over him. He gasped. His brain commanded his body to move but to no avail. He heard the figures talking to each other in Russian. Elvis kept trying to struggle. His vision went dark once more.

His captures soon arrived at a cabin. They dragged Elvis off into a room. They chained him up by his wrists. "there. Now he shouldn't be of any trouble." sneers one of the figures.

"be careful. Kora doesn't want us to ruin the merchandise." cautioned the other.

"yeah but that doesn't mean we can't have any fun." The soldier looked at Elvis. A wicked smile played at his lips.

-2 months pass-

Winds roughly rocked the small plane Penny, Sam, Ellie, and Leon were on. Ellie grunted. She gripped her seat. "you picked a hell of a time to fly, Sam." remarked Ellie.

"Sorry. I want to find Elvis as soon as possible." countered Sam. He looked out the window. The vast seascape sprawled out below them. Heavy clouds hung just above the plane. Small ice chunks floated in the water. He placed his hand on the glass.

Leon climbed into Ellie's lap. She wrapped an arm around him. Ellie had decided to tag along seeing as she didn't want to be away from Penny for more than a week. She adjusted herself so Leon could rest comfortably on her.

The plane landed at Novo Airbase. Mountains rose in the background. Penny opened the cargo bay door. She climbed out first. Sam and Ellie both got changed out of their mountain rescue uniforms. They both changed into their hunter forms. Ellie lowered herself to the ground so her mate and Leon could climb onto her. Penny smiled. She gave Ellie a small pat on the neck. Sam took off for the mountains first. Ellie followed in behind them.

Snow swirled around them. Penny couldn't really see much in front of her. She held her arm up to block the snow from reaching her eyes. Leon held on tightly to his mother. "are we really going to be able to find, Elvis?" asked Leon.

"I hope so, Leo. I really hope so," replied Penny. She kept her hands on Ellie's scuff. She could hear Ellie's labored breathing as she ran to keep up with Sam. Her booming heartbeat thundered underneath Penny's legs.

The winds picked up. A wall made of blowing snow blew around them. Sam shivered. Ice plastered his body. It made his fur stick to his body. He put his nose to the air. All he could detect was coldness. He kept going. The four of them traveled for miles. Mountains rose over them. Leon cuddled close to his mom. "mommy, I'm cold." he whispered.

Penny unclipped her mountain rescue jacket. She placed it around Leon to keep him warm. Ellie looked up at the two of them. She huffed at Sam. Sam paused. He flicked his ears in reply. He motioned for them to wait with his tail. He ran on ahead. Ellie laid down. She carefully took both Penny and Leon off her back. She wrapped her furred body around him. She licks Penny's cheek. She presses her forehead against hers. Penny smiled. "thank you." She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck.

Sam came back after a while. He chuffed at them. Ellie nodded in understanding. She helped Penny and Leon climb back on her. She followed Sam into a cave. Sam smelled something rotten near the entrance. He noticed a body laying a few inches from it. He smelled it. It was a seal body that had been slaughtered at least 2 months prior. He could see bullet holes in it. Alarms went off in his head. His hackles rose. He padded into the cave. The cave looked to have been used by somebody. He noticed personal items laid around in the cave. He smelled each of them. A familiar scent hit the roof of his nose. He purred softly. _These are Elvis' things but..._ He takes a whiff again. The scent was old. _He hasn't been here for ages. Something has happened._ He heard Ellie enter the cave. Leon slid off her. "wow there's a lot of old things in here." he commented.

"I know. I wonder who it belongs to." Penny ruffles Leon's hair gently. She noticed Sam was nuzzling one of the blankets. He was purring loudly. "what's that you have there, Sam?" she asked. Sam only rolled around in the blanket in reply. Penny raised an eyebrow. "Sam?" Sam carried the blanket over to her. He had a hopeful look on his face. He nuzzled it in her lap. She then got the hint. "Elvis has been here, hasn't he?" Sam nodded. She smiled. "alright. Go and find him. We'll stay here." Sam took another whiff on the blanket. He took off running.

Penny sighed as she watched him leave. She only hoped that he would be okay on his own. Ellie grabbed her clothes out of Penny's bag. She shifted back. She quickly tossed her jacket and pants on. She sat by Penny. "he'll be okay." she comforted.

"I know. I'm just surprised we were able to find Elvis this quickly." Penny leaned against Ellie.

"Sam is a better tracker than I am. He could smell Elvis from 40 feet away." Ellie wrapped an arm around Penny's shoulder. "those two are inseparable."

The winds battered up against the sides of the cabin. The walls were encased in layers of ice. Elvis laid in the center of the room. His body battered, broken, and starved. His arm rested across his now empty womb. His breath came in raspy. He swallowed back a painful lump. He was a man who had lost everything. He wanted nothing more than to wait his time out. His hollow gaze focused on the window. He watched the snow blow around outside. Blood leaked out the corner of his eyes. He licked his parched lips. His bone showed through his skin. He looked like a skeleton. He sniffed. He winced. The movement caused a small bolt of pain to shoot through him.

The inside of the cabin was empty. It once had a month's worth of torture being played out within its walls. Elvis' endless screams still echoed off the wood. A haunting memory of the fight for his life. Elvis saw the dark spots in his vision beginning to grow. He soon gave into the darkness.

Sam followed Elvis' scent trail. The storm slowly subsided. Brilliant green lights filled the air. His heart pounded in his chest. He paused when a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. He gripped the snow. He swayed. _I have to hurry._ He pressed on. The scent took him to a cabin in an isolated part of the landscape near the Southern Shelf. Tracks in the snow indicated that the cabin had been already emptied. Elvis' scent grew stronger as did the sudden wave of dizziness. He scratched on the door. His claws scraped against the metal painfully. He then backed up. Blue flames surrounded his body as he lunged at the door. He hit with enough force to send the door flying further into the cabin. The flames petered out.

The cabin was empty. Sam could tell that it had been lived in recently. Purrs tumbled out of his chest. He got to the room where Elvis was being held. He let out a small meow. He ran his paw underneath the doorframe. The purring stopped when he was meant by a foul stench. Panic settled in. He backed up. He ran at the door full blast before sending it flying further into the room. He landed on top of it. His heart sank. He went over to his lover. He softly whined into his ear. He nudged his hand gently. _Oh, gods Elvis, what have those bastards done to you? Don't you worry? I'll get you out of here._ Sam found a blanket from one of the storage closets. He wrapped Elvis up in it. He placed Elvis onto his back as he ran out of the cabin.

Penny got a fire going for the three of them. Leon had long since fallen asleep in front of them. Penny held her arms. She shivered. "cold?" asked Ellie.

Penny nods. "yeah, just a little bit."

Ellie scooted closer to her. She took off her jacket. She placed it around Penny's shoulders. "now that I have Hunter Genetics, I don't have to worry about being cold."

"Thanks, Ellie." Penny pulled the jacket tighter around her.

"Penny, how old were you when you found out you were pregnant with Leo?" questioned Ellie.

Penny searched her mind. "29. I used to date a guy from my college days." That's when Penny saddened. "I thought he was the one. He used to spoil me rotten each day when we were together." Penny smiled. She held her arms. "we had a one night stand and 3 days afterward, I found I was pregnant with Leon." Tears stream down Penny's face. "he left without another word. Told me he didn't remember getting me knocked up."

Ellie sensed Penny's distress. She held her mate close. "When I finally joined the fire service, I had to leave Leon with my sister. There wasn't a day that didn't go by where I wanted to be with him. I feel like I've failed him some days."

"don't say that. You know that's not true. Leon really loves you. I'm sure he understands why you did what you did." argued Ellie.

"that's why I'm trying so hard to take care of him now. I want to make sure he has everything he needs in life." Penny leaned against Ellie. She felt exhaustion take hold of her. "get some rest. I'll watch him." Penny nodded. She fell asleep in her mate's arms.

The blizzard pounded Sam hard. He could barely keep his paws on the ground. His joints ached and pleaded with every step he took. He glanced over his shoulder at the passed out Elvis on his back. _We aren't going to last for much longer. I need to get Elvis to safety. I hope there's a town nearby or some sort of shelter. I shouldn't have left that cabin. We're both going to die out here._ Elvis' wounds weren't helping Sam any. Elvis' blood called to him. Sam's throat burned harshly. He continued to trudge onwards.

The mountain valley appeared amongst the snowy clouds. Sam padded towards it. Maybe the place would offer them shelter from the winds? Sam didn't know how much longer he could hold on for. Wooden walkways dangled in the cross-breeze. There were village houses that look like they hadn't been used for months. Torn banners with a tribal bear hung from the tops of the cliffs. Sam went into one of the huts. He laid Elvis down on top of an old pile of straw. He grunted as he laid down next to him. Elvis still hadn't moved which concerned him. He let out a tired sigh as he fell asleep.

Kora placed her face in her hands. "it's so hard to find good help nowadays." She turns around. "You two fools have cost me a couple of bodies I could have used!" She slammed her fist down on the table.

One of the soldiers gulped. "we're sorry your highness. Perhaps we may have taken our torture thing a bit too far?"

Kora's eyes narrowed. A sudden grin flashed across her face. "you know what fellas? Maybe I was wrong. It was an honest mistake after all."

The soldier's eyes lit up. "here, allow me to reward you." She waves her hand. The soldiers cried out in pain. They slumped over. Kora lowered her hand. The others gulped. They dropped their gaze. "now." She put her fingertips together. "are we going to have another incident?" They shook their heads in reply. "good. Carry out your tasks. I want the last two footholds heavily guarded." The soldiers left the room.

Kora walked over to a shadowed part of the room. Poor Mandy had been chained to the wall. She had dark vines growing on her. "soon, you'll be one of us. I appreciate all the things you and your friend have done. Hopefully, this returns the favor."

Bright lights shined in the darkness. Hoshi turned his headlights down as they entered Cardiff. His tinted glass kept the glare from being too much. He looked to Finley who had fallen asleep during the trip. Her hood covered her face. "babe." he whispered.

Finley snapped awake. "hm?"

"we're here." Finley stretched. "good. That means once morning comes, you and I can do some detective work." She rested her arms under her head. "right now I could really use a shower, some hot food, and a nice long rest."

Hoshi smirked. "feeling a bit lazy today?"

"kiss my ass," muttered Finley.

Hoshi pulled up outside of the Cardiff Marriott Hotel. He parked the car. He got out and walked over to the other side. He helped Finley out of it. She smiled. She took his arm as the two of them walked inside. The receptionist counter was located right next to the door. The interior walls were colored a soft beige. The floor reflected the lights in the ceiling. A rather bored-looking Tauren stood behind it. She glanced up once the two of them approached. "hello and welcome to the Marriott Hotel, can I have a name please?"

"we didn't book a reservation. I was wondering if we could maybe get a room for a couple of days?" asked Hoshi.

"sure." She checked the computer. "it's 71 per night."

Hoshi shrugged. He did the math quietly in his head. He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small wad. He gave the Tauren the exact amount. "here ya are." The Tauren smiled. She gave Hoshi their room key. "room 308A. Just take the elevator up to the 3rd floor, 3rd room down." Hoshi nodded. He took Finley's hand. He leads her over to the elevator. Finley lofted an eyebrow. "dude. Where did you get that much cash?"

"you forget that I am a workaholic with sugar momma issues." replied Hoshi smugly. "so I have money set aside."

"Sugar momma issues?" asked Finley.

"Oh, you know, the whole thing with Mandy." Hoshi folded his arms over his chest.

"wouldn't that make you her Sugar Daddy?"

"maybe." Hoshi moved his head to the side. He had a smug look on his face. "why? Are you jealous?"

Finley punched him in the shoulder. "I don't think lying to my boyfriend in court and then causing him to commit suicide is a reason to get jealous."

"fair enough." He tucked his hands into his pocket. Finley leaned up against him. The elevator door finally opened. Hoshi stepped out onto the floor. The walls were a purplish-white color. The room doors were set up to where they would face each other at a 30-degree angle. Hoshi slid the key into the lock of the door marked 308A. The lock beeped at them. Hoshi pushed open the door.

The room had a bathroom close to the door. There didn't seem to be a cooking area though which was fine. The bed sat in the center of the room with the dresser right in front of it. The TV sat on top of the dresser. Hoshi set his bag down on top of the bed. He flopped down face first into the sheets. Finley sat on the other side of it.

The two of them stayed like that for a while. "man, I'm starving." muttered Hoshi. He took his phone out of his pocket. He turned over onto his back so he can view it. "what do you feel like having?"

"you pick," muttered Finley.

Hoshi pulled up an app on his phone. He put in an order for hot wings and fries at Nariax's Wing Shop which was just up the road. He tucked his phone back into his pocket. "would you be cool if I went down the street to pick up dinner?"

Finley waved him off. "go. Do what you have to do babe." She reached over to kiss him. He brought his lips up to hers. "I'll be back." He crawled out of bed. Finley heard the door close. Her phone buzzed quietly in her pocket. She looked down to see a call coming in from Donovan. She rolled her eyes.

 _ **Finley: What do you want, Donny?**_

 _ **Donovan: Still using pet names are we? That's nice of you Fin-Fin.**_

 _ **Finley: Save the cute chatter. Do you have an update on our next three targets?**_

 _ **Donovan: Yes I do. Helen is holding in there. She hasn't moved from her spot...yet. However, there is talk about moving her soon. I do hope you and that otter you have running around with you can get to her in time. As for Bronwyn, I don't know. I haven't heard anything from my contact yet. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.**_

 _ **Finley: and what about Elvis?**_

 _ **Donovan: Fraid' you were going to ask that. Elvis has lost their kids sadly. I don't know of his condition yet but I can safely tell you that your little hunting party found them.**_

 _ **Finley: thank you, Donny. I..I'll be sure to update Anika.**_

 _ **-She goes to hang up-**_

 _ **Donovan: Um Finley, how about you and I have dinner sometime?**_

 _ **Finley: I'm going to have to decline, Donny. I'm sorry. I just have too much on my plate right now.**_

 _ **Donovan: Oh..I see. Well when you change your mind, my offer is on the table. Good night Mi Amor.**_

 _ **-Donovan hangs up-**_

Finley set her phone down in her lap. She leaned back against the headboard.

It took an hour for Hoshi to come back. He knocked on the door. Finley got up from the bed. She answered the door for him. Hoshi trudged past her. "sorry about the wait. I caught them as they were closing." He set the bags of food down on the dresser next to the TV. He took the boxes out of their bags. He set the plates down on the dresser. He handed Finley an empty plate.

Finley joined Hoshi on the bed once she got her food. He had his sitting in his lap. He picked up the remote which was sitting on the small oak nightstand. He turned the TV on. He found a movie for them to watch. Finley scooted close to him. She leaned up against him as she ate her food.

"so what's your deal with that Donny guy?"

The question snapped Finley to her senses. "who?"

"Donovan or whoever it is you have helping us."

"oh...him. Just a friend. He was my former guild master." She hugs her knees gently. "I was just never fond of him."

Hoshi wrapped an arm around her. He pulled her close. "you seem to get creeped out every time he talks to you."

"well, that's because he's a creep. I don't like him but he's our best shot at finding the other three." She rests her head on his stomach. Hoshi checked the clock. "well I suppose we should get some rest." He settled down to rest. "good night Fin-Fin."

Finley felt a chill go down her spine. "good night Hoshi." The two of them drifted off to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two:

 _The smell of wet moss brought Finley back to her senses. A large green canopy rose over her. Yellow light filtered in through the leaves. She slowly sat upright. She was confused. What was she doing out here? She looked down to find herself in her usual robes. They were a bit ripped up . Panic settled in. She knew exactly where she was. Her place of solitude following the months she spent with Donovan. She got to her feet. Just then she heard a familiar screech. A beautiful brown hawk came flying in through the trees. It landed on her shoulder. She gave the hawk a small scratch on the beak. The thrill of the hunt coursed through her. She headed off into the woods. Her bow clenched firmly in her hands. She got to the bottom of the hill. A twig snapped somewhere in front of her. She readied her bow almost as if on instinct. She saw a shape move amongst the branches. A white owl. "Delas," she whispered. The name came to her in a heartbeat. The owl watched her. It hoo'd at her quietly before flying off. Finley felt the urge to follow it. She chased after Delas._

 _Delas continued flying ahead of her. Delas was the God of Rangers. She often showed herself to those who trained as Rangers under her name. Delas landed on another branch. White light filtered in through the tops of the trees. There was a small meadow. Delas turned to look at Finley. She lowered one of her wings and gestured to a shape which laid on the ground. Finley picked it up. It was an old buffalo bone. The bone had something carved into it. She ran her thumb over it. "Mictlāntēcutli_ _." she whispered. "death." She looked up at Delas. The owl nodded. It turned it's head towards the meadow again. Finley noticed another thing laying in the center of the meadow. She picked it up. It was another bone. The bone had a fox and a panther carved into it. A large crack went down the center of both drawings. Finley's blood ran cold. It was an omen. Delas was warning her of something. She went to look up only for Delas to be missing. A single bloodied feather hung from the branch. She picked it up carefully. A voice whispered into her ear. "The shadows will go from being your friends to your enemy, a man who wields the gift of jaws will bring doom to those you care about. Panther and fox will soon fall and the moon will turn red."_

Finley snapped awake. She bolted upright in bed. It was still dark outside. She looked at the clock to find that it was 4 am in the morning. She placed a hand over her heart. She tapped Hoshi. "babe."

Hoshi sits up. "what is it, Finley?"

"it's 4 am. We should get going while it's still dark." Finley hopped out of bed. She grabbed her cloak and her bow. Hoshi put his boots on. He was still dressed in a sleeveless shirt and shorts. He figured those would be easier to get changed out of. Finley stared at him. "Seriously? You're going to go like that?"

He shrugged. "not like I get to keep my pants. You forget that I'm a wereotter, dear."

"fair enough. Let's go."

Finley climbed into the driver's side of the jeep. Hoshi tossed his clothes to her through the window. He backed up a few feet. A low snarl escaped his lips. Black and grey fur covered every inch of his body. He rose over the top of the jeep. He had phased into his wereotter form. His yellow eyes blinked in the darkness. He took off running through the streets. He made sure to stay in the shadows where no one could see him. Finley put the coordinates into her GPS. She knew Hoshi would get there before she did.

Helen was located in a rather large building. It was an industrial warehouse sort of building. Hoshi paused on top of the hill overlooking it. He heard the jeep pull up behind him. Finley climbed out of the jeep. She walked up to him. She blew a small whistle. A faint screech came from a branch up in one of the trees. Soren landed on her shoulder. Finley sat down. She crossed her legs. Soren took off again. She began flying over the warehouse. Finley closed her eyes. She allowed her spirit to sync with Soren's.

 _Finley could see through Soren's eyes. The warehouse was heavily guarded. Kora appeared to have taken notice of their previous attempt. Soren kept scanning the ground. The guards are wearing medium armor. Each of them held an AR-15 in their hands. Soren let out a small screech. Her eyes zoomed in on a truck facing the southern road. Helen was being loaded up into it. She didn't look so good._

Finley broke her concentration. She climbed up onto Hoshi's back. "she's on a road heading South. Let's go." Hoshi nodded. He climbed down the hill. Hoshi made use of the bushes around the warehouse. He kept out of sight of the guards. Finley buried herself in his back. She used his fur as camouflage.

Helen let out a pained grunt as she was shoved into the back of a van. Her hands were bound together. Her feet weighed down by chains. She watched as the soldier slammed the door shut. She heard faint murmuring outside suddenly. Gunfire broke out. Blood spattered against the window. Helen screamed as the guard's face slid down the frosted glass. She watched as the doors to the back of the van opened. Finley poked her head in. Helen let out a sigh of relief. "right on time." she rasped.

Finley carefully lifted Helen up. She climbed back onto Hoshi. Hoshi ran off. Bullets barely missed his back ankles. He picks up the pace. He scales the mountainsides. He slips off into the woods. Finley cut the bindings off Helen's arms. She then broke the chains off her ankles. "there we are. One freed nurse. Safe and sound."

Helen hugged Finley gently. "thank you. I was beginning to think no one would show up."

Finley shook her head. "no. Hoshi was determined to save you. He feels bad that you were even brought into this mess. I don't know why Mandy would want you of all people harmed."

Hoshi ran back towards the jeep. He lowered himself so both ladies could slide off him. Finley helped Helen climb up into the jeep. She turned to Hoshi. She hugged his muzzle. "see you back at the hotel, love." She kissed him before pulling away. Hoshi vanished off into the trees again.

Finley drove Helen back to the Marriott Hotel. She let Helen lean on her. "I have to make a quick phone call once we get to our room." Helen nods. She is just glad to have been rescued. She followed Finley back to their hotel room. Finley made sure Helen was comfortable before calling Anika.

 _ **Anika: Hello?**_

 _ **Finley: Hey Anika, I've got some great news. We managed to rescue Helen. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.**_

 _ **Anika: that's great! Have you heard anything about Bronwyn or Elvis yet?**_

 _ **Finley: well they found Elvis but-**_

 _ **Anika: But?**_

 _ **Finley: he's lost their kid. Those bastards did a number to him.**_

 _ **Anika: poor kid. He's not going to take that very well. What of Bronwyn?**_

 _ **Finley: We don't know yet. I hope she's doing okay.**_

 _ **Anika: well Winter and I are on our way there now. Just stay safe. The lot of you.**_

 _ **Finley: we will.**_

Finley put her phone in her pocket. She tapped her foot on the ground. She grew concerned with every passing minute. Hoshi still wasn't back yet. She decided to call him only to put her phone back. _Wait, he's in half-blood form. He's not going to be able to use his phone._

Finley continued to wait. Helen had already fallen asleep on one of the beds. The door to their room opened. Hoshi had a haunted look on his face. He sat down on the bed quietly. "babe!" Finley ran into his arms. Hoshi stayed quiet. He gripped Finley tightly in his arms. "I'm so glad your home. What happened? Are you okay?"

Hoshi opened his mouth but closed it. Tears built up in his eyes. "baby...what's wrong?"

Hoshi reached into his pocket. He pulled out a set of beads. He handed it to Finley. Finley looked at them. She recognized them as belonging to Mandy. They were bloodied. Finley felt her heart stop in her chest. "she's-"

Hoshi nodded slowly. He looked away. Finley looked back up at him. "Hoshi, I'm so sorry."

"it's not your fault. I guess it's just a reality of life I have to deal with. I don't know how I'll explain this to Helen though." Hoshi looked broken. He didn't know whether to feel happy or sad. If Mandy was dead, that meant his son probably was too. Hoshi got up from the bed. "excuse me." Finley watched as Hoshi walked out of the room. The door banged harshly against the frame rocking the room a little bit.

Hoshi walked down the streets. The sea winds tugged at his shirt. Guilty plagued his heart. _Damn it Hoshi, you promised Mike that you would bring all three of them back. Here you go again, messing things up as per usual. Why does Finley love me?_ Hoshi tucked his hands into his pockets. He went over to the canal railing. He leaned up against it. A faint song welled up in his chest.

 _ **Beware, beware the Daughter of the sea**_

 _ **"Beware," I heard him cry.**_

 _ **His word carried upon the ocean breeze,**_

 _ **As he sank beneath the tide.**_

 _Hoshi's mind went back to the time he spent with Mandy and Gess. How happy the three of them were. Seeing Mandy smile at him each time he came home from work._

 _ **Those blood-soaked shores of Kalimdor,**_

 _ **Where sailors fought and died.**_

 _ **The Admiral fell at Theramore,**_

 _ **because she left his side.**_

 _ **Why this? Why this, oh Daughter of the Sea?**_

 _ **Why this? Did you forget your seaside days?**_

 _ **Always the pride of our nation's eyes,**_

 _ **How could she go astray?**_

 _Hoshi's sister came to visit them one night. Mandy didn't have much problem with Seren coming to see his sister as well as his nephew until Norman stepped in. He told Mandy that Hoshi's sister was actually his new girlfriend. Mandy believed him. Jealousy soon filled her heart._

Tears filled Hoshi's eyes as he continued singing.

 _ **When she did flee across the ocean deep,**_

 _ **the Admiral followed west.**_

 _ **What else but sail to save a daughter's life,**_

 _ **and pray she still drew breathe?**_

 _ **But there he found upon those distant shores,**_

 _ **Enemies pon the rise!**_

 _ **But when he faced those savage foes**_

 _ **His daughter stood aside**_

 _ **And buried deep beneath the waves,**_

 _ **Betrayed by family.**_

 _ **To his nation, with his last breath, cried,**_

 _ **"Beware the Daughter of the Sea."**_

 _Mandy decided to confront Hoshi. The two of them got into a wicked argument. Hoshi lost the last bit of his control and disfigured the right side of Mandy's face by pure accident. The police burst into the home arresting him. Hoshi spent 4 months in jail before being released. He went to visit her home only to find out that he could never see her or his son again._

 _Rage, grief, and sadness soon consumed his heart. He changed into his otter form and headed into the woods. He left wounds on his own body._

 _ **I heard, I heard, across a moonlit sea,**_

 _ **The old voice warning me,**_

 _ **"Beware, beware the Daughter of the Sea",**_

 _ **"Beware, beware.."**_

 _ **...of me.**_

Hoshi took out a photo he had of the three of them together. He let it fall from his hand. The photo plummeted into the water. The darkness soon consumed it as it sank to the bottom of the river bed. 

Finley laid in bed. She faced the wall as she waited for Hoshi to come home. She heard the hotel room door open. She frowned when she heard silence. The door closed suddenly. The bed creaked. Finley reached for a dagger on her belt. She exhaled before turning quickly onto her side. She raised her hand over the figure. The figure wore a wolf mask. They blocked her wrist. "shh." it whispered.

"Donny? What the fuck? Yours supposed to be looking for Gess." she hissed.

They move their head to the side. "what? I can't pay my favorite girl a visit?" They removed their mask. Donny was a tan-skinned man with black hair. He had warm brown eyes. He smiled at Finley as he leaned in close to her face. "man, time sure flies doesn't it? I'm glad you haven't aged a bit."

Finley eyed him. She folded her arms over her chest. "can you please make yourself scarce? Hoshi should be back soon. I'm sure he would love an update on his son."

"oh..right...that." He sits on his knees. He was purposely keeping her legs pinned. Finley fought the urge to stab him in the thigh. "finding him has been a bit of an issue. It would appear that Mandy has him well hidden."

"Mandy is dead." countered Finley. "and Donny, you are a bad liar. I know your hiding something."

"glad my little kitten's skills haven't gone dull." he purred. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a document. "here you go."

Finley reads the document. Her eyes scan the page. A smile forms on her lips. "Donny, you clever bastard! This will definitely make Hoshi happy."

Donovan smiled. "now what do I get in return?"

Finley wrinkled her nose. She rolled her eyes. "fine, we'll go on that dinner date you've been wanting to take me on for so long."

Donovan tapped her nose. "Burdelo's. 7 pm sharp. Wear something nice."

She groaned. "alright. Now get lost."

Donovan hopped out of bed. He bowed before leaving the room. 

Hoshi soon back to the hotel room. He spotted Finley on her phone in the dark. He closed the door behind him. He sat on the edge of the bed with her. "you didn't have to wait up." he whispered.

"well, I was going to sleep until Donny showed up. He wanted me to give you this." Finley handed Hoshi a document. Hoshi turned on a lamp so he could see. His heart quivered. Relief washed over him. "he's alive. I'm taking the first flight out to Ireland to find him."

Finley scratched behind her head. "that's good because I have to stay behind and..."

Hoshi turned around to face her. "and?" he prompted.

She muttered it out the corner of her mouth. "have dinner with Donny."

"with who?" asked Hoshi.

Finley glared at him. She moved her head to the side. She bites her lip. "Hoshi."

Hoshi smirked. He pulled her close to him. "go. Have fun though if he gets creepy with you, I want you to call me."

Finley nodded. She kissed his cheek. "now let's get some rest, Tiger." 

The winds picked up outside of the cavern. Sam's ears perked. He heard moaning next to him. He raised his head. Elvis is convulsing next to him. Blood seeped down the corner of his mouth. Sam whimpered. He nudged his mate's hand. Elvis soon stopped convulsing. Sam got up from his bedside. He headed out of the hut. He had to find food and water for Elvis. He searched around the camp. He found baskets knocked over in a separate hut. He smelled it. His mouth watered. _Meat._ He pulled the lid off it. Most of it had rotted. He frowned. _I can't give him this. He'll get worse. I need to find something fresh. There has to be a hunting ground around here. Let's see if I can't find any weapons or some clothes. I don't really need the weapons though. I'll worry about skinning once I catch something. Let's find something suitable for both of us to wear._ Sam walked into another hut. There really wasn't anything of worth in it so he proceeded to go to another one. He found a cloak and a set of common clothes. It was a white shirt with x-shaped stitching in the collar, a pair of black pants, and furred boots. Sam let out a sigh of relief. He looked around for another pair. Something he could change Elvis into. He managed to find another pair. He carefully picked up everything into his mouth. He headed back to Elvis' hut. He tucked the clothes into the corner. He licked his mate's cheek. _Be back soon love._

Sam headed out into the cold landscape. The wind blew around him. He allowed his primal instincts to take over. The faint smell of blood hit the roof of his nose. He began to follow it. A wounded polar bear was making its way towards the edge of the ice shelf. Sam got down onto his hutches. The bear caught wind of his scent. It reared back onto its legs. 

RAWR!

It took a swing at Sam with its massive paw. Sam side-stepped out of its way. He lunged forward for a bite. The bear brought it's paw down on his muzzle. Sam yelped as it pinned him down by his muzzle. Sam swung his claws. He slashed the bear across its wrist with them. The bear roared letting him go. Sam backed up. He lowered himself to the ground. He gathered up his muscles and tossed himself onto the bear. He clamped onto its neck with his jaws. He sank all of his claws into its stomach. The bear swung its body from side to side. It raised it's paw again.

A steel-tipped arrow came flying in through the whiteness. It struck the bear in the side of its neck. The bear roared. It turned its head. Another arrow struck it right behind its eyes. Sam felt the entire weight of the bear fall onto him. It knocked the wind out of him.

A figure came walking towards him. It had black fur and black horns. Its hooves were black as well. It had on a brown bandana with tribal markings on it. Feathers hung off the sides of the bandana. It knelt down to look at him. Sam could barely stay awake. "just hang in there, friend. Give me a moment to get this bear off you." Sam felt the bear being lifted off him. Sam quickly sprung to his feet. The bull-like creature stared at Sam one last time. "we don't get too many of your kind around these parts often. You must be hungry. Here, you show me the way to your den and I'll help you carry the bear. You've earned it." Relief flashed across Sam's face. The bull slung the dead bear over its shoulder without much of an issue. He began following Sam.

Sam lead the bull back to the camp him and Elvis were hiding out at. The bull frowned. "Three Horns? Why are you here, Hunter?" His heart stopped when he spotted the sick human laying on the bed of hay. He set the bear down. He walked over to him. He knelt down next to him. He gently placed a hand on Elvis' forehead. "he's very weak. I see why you were out hunting." He looked at Sam. "it's for your friend here, right?"

Sam lowered his ears in reply. "don't worry. I'm here to help. My name is Havok Brokenhoof of Splintered Ram. I'm a druid. Let me move him to my camp. We have a shaman who can help him." pressed Havok.

Sam nodded. He gave Havok a trusting look. Havok carefully lifted Elvis up. Sam watched as Havok's form changed. He took on the form of a rather large cat. He towered over Sam. His horns poked out in his form. He took off running. Sam chased after him. He tried to keep pace with him.

A pair of totems poked out in the distance. These totems were comprised of a bear, a lion, and an owl. Their eyes pierced into Sam as the two of them entered the camp. A fire burned in the center of it with huts circling the flames. Taurens of varying colors all walked around the camp. They gasped when they saw Havok with a hunter running beside him. Sam could hear them talking about him in hushed whispers. Havok pushed in front of a hut that had a beautiful tribal Tiefling painted onto the sheet. Havok shifted back into his regular form before entering the hut. "Elder Doeheart. I have brought a wounded traveler to your doorstep. This hunter is worried about him."

A brown and white Tauren turned around. It's form shook. Between its hands sat a small wooden staff. The Elder smiled at Sam. "aha Hunter. Such a welcoming surprise. I shall heal your human friend. I will make sure he is taken care of." He limped over to an empty cot. "bring him over here, Havok."

Havok laid Elvis down on the cot. "Havok, please get a meal and some water for our guests. Hunter, you are more than welcomed to sleep here. We'll take good care of both of you."

Sam gave Elder Doeheart a grateful look. He curled up next to Elvis. Doeheart got to work on treating Elvis' wounds. Sam watched him carefully. He winced when Doeheart removed his mate's clothing leaving him in his boxers. He saw the full extent of Elvis' wounds. Elvis had bruises up and down his body. It looked like he had been hit with a weapon of some sort. He couldn't bring himself to look at Elvis' hips. He whimpered sadly. _I'm so sorry love. I should have gotten to you sooner. God, I messed up._

 _Bright lights shined in Elvis' vision. He woke up in the back of his parent's car. Both of his parents were singing along to the loud music that was blaring through the speakers. His mother turned around to face him. She smiled at him. "guess who is awake?"_

 _Elvis smiled back at his mom. He was a tiny boy again. She offered Elvis her hand. Elvis gladly took it. He could feel his mother's pulse underneath his fingers._

 _Suddenly another pair of bright lights shined through the windshield. Elvis watched as a vehicle slammed into them. He hit his head on the roof of the car. Screaming shrilled in his ears. He suddenly started to feel hot. Something warm and sticky ran over the tops of his eyes as he woke up again. Blood trickled down his face. The vehicle they were in had been smashed up by another vehicle. Elvis turned his head painfully. Tears formed in his eyes. A figure stood amongst the darkness with his parents laying at their feet. They turned to face Elvis. Grey smoke appeared as them as they disappeared._

 _Elvis' mom dragged herself over to him. She held him in her arms. "shh it's okay." she rasped. Elvis sobbed into her chest. "it's alright baby. Mommy...has you..." she stilled holding him. Elvis shook her gently. "No! Please! Don't leave me!" he looked around. "Dad! Someone! Help!" Elvis continued holding his mother._

 _The twigs snap next to him. Elvis looks up to see a pair of eyes glowing in the distance. They are blue in color. Panic settles in. The figure gets close to him. They pick him up in its wings before taking off._

Elvis woke up panting. He bolted upright on the cot. He took in a shaky breathe. He felt a hand gently grab his shoulder. "no! Don't!" He put his hand up to protect himself. Elder Doeheart removed it. He smiled kindly at Elvis. "relax young one. You are safe." He sets a tray of food down in Elvis' lap. "Hungry?"

Elvis heard his stomach growl. He grabbed one of the biscuits off the tray. He devoured in one go. He grabbed another bit of food and ate that too. Doeheart handed Elvis a cup of water. Elvis downed that too. He started to feel better. Elder Doeheart removed the empty tray from his lap. "now let me look at those wounds." He went in to change the bandages. Elvis quietly watched him. Elder Doeheart got up. "your friend has been waiting to see you." He gestured to Sam who was sleeping on one of the empty cots. "he was the one that brought you to us."

Elvis felt his heartbreak. That couldn't be him, could it? He whimpered softly. Sam's ears twitched. He lifted up his head. A loud purr tumbled out of his chest. He padded over to Elvis. He licked him gently on the cheek. He nuzzled his chest. "how?" he asked hoarsely. Tears welled up in Elvis' eyes. "I watched you die."

Sam pressed his forehead to his. Elvis wrapped his arms around Sam's neck. He buried his face in his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you. I wasn't even strong enough to survive long enough to get the kids to safety. I failed you." sobbed Elvis. "I'm sorry."

Sam rested his chin on top of Elvis' head. Tears landed on top of his head. Elvis sniffed and pulled away. He wiped the tears from his eyes. "I'm so glad you are alive. Here I thought my world was gone." He held his arm. Sam tilted his head to the side. Elder Doeheart bowed to the both of them. "I'll leave you two in peace." he headed out of the tent.

Sam shifted back. He wrapped his arms around Elvis' body. "I've missed you. So much." Elvis noticed how pale and withdrawn Sam looked. "you haven't been able to feed much have you?" he asked.

Sam shook his head. Elvis offered Sam his arm. Sam stared at him. "I don't think I should be taking blood from you."

Elvis kept his arm out. Sam sighed. "alright." He lifted it up to his lips. He let his fangs come out. Elvis winced as Sam bit into his flesh. Sam's eyes turned a lighter shade of blue. Elvis moaned as Sam's poison settled in. He pulled his arm away from him once Sam was done. Sam got on top of him. Elvis wrapped his arms around his husband's waist. Sam brought his lips down on Elvis'. Elvis laid down with him on top.

Sarah slowly started to come too again. Her ears rang. Her body ached. Blood trickled down her cheek from a cut she had on it. Her arms had been strapped to a metal chair. Her ankles were bound to the legs of the chair. Sarah sat in the middle of an old garage. There were wires hooked up to the metal part of the chair. Sarah shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know how long she had been trapped her for. Her body still hurt from having been hit by an oncoming vehicle. She needed to get out of here. She yanked on the straps again. This time they snapped. She let out a relieved sigh. She bent down to try and yank the chains off her. "damn it, it's locked." She looked around for a tool to use. She manages to find a small red crowbar just a few inches from her. She reached for it. She grabbed it and leaned back with it. She used the tip of it to try to free herself. The chains barely move. The crowbar begins to bend in her grasp. She tried again. The chains snapped. They clattered onto the floor in four pieces. Sarah moves her feet to make sure they weren't broken before leaving the room.

 _I need to find my stuff._ She thought to herself. _That way I can make it back to the hotel room. Once I do that, I should be able to contact mom. No doubt she's worried about me._

Sarah took a look around. She was in the kitchen area of the house. The kitchen looked to have been used recently. Knives covered in blood littered the countertop. Sarah picked up one of the knives. She hid in her ruined shirt sleeve. She snuck into the hallway.

Her bag sat on top of the couch in the living room. She shifted through it to make sure that her stuff was in it. She let out a sigh of relief when she found everything she needed. She tossed her bag onto her back. She snuck over to the front door. She opened the front door without making a noise. Her heart pounded in her chest as she fled. She ran out into the street.

Sarah was in a mobile home a few miles away from the city. She decided to stick close to the road. She pulled her phone out of her bag. She only had 70% left on her battery. She called her mother. The line was dead. She frowned. "that's strange. Mother always answers her phone. Let me try dad." His line was dead too. It went disconnected notice. "okay, James." It took a couple of rings but her brother's face appeared on the screen.

 _ **James: SARAH! OH MY GOD, I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!**_

 _ **Sarah: Yeah, I'm sorry. I kind of got...kidnapped.**_

 _ **James: where are you? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?**_

 _ **Sarah: I'm outside of Jacksonville. I'll manage but why isn't mom and dad picking up their phones?**_

 _ **-A grave look flashes across James' face-**_

 _ **James: You didn't get my text? Oh..right...Mom has been kidnapped by Mandy. Dad...Dad died. He was killed by an assassin. Uncle Sam took care of him though.**_

 _ **-Sarah conceals her face so James doesn't see her cry-**_

 _ **Sarah: s-s-so where are you? Were you taken too?**_

 _ **James: No, I'm with Ben and Arnold.**_

 _ **Sarah: good. I'm heading back to the hotel room. Hopefully, they haven't tossed my stuff out yet. How many days was I gone?**_

 _ **James: About 2 months at the most. I feel like it's been longer than that though. I'm going to let Ben know. I'm on my way to get you.**_

 _ **Sarah: sounds good. See you, James.**_

 _ **James: take care.**_

Sarah tucked her phone back in her bag. She followed the road back into town. It took her about 3 hours to get back to the hotel. She leaned on the receptionist desk. The receptionist glanced up at her. "oh...your back."

Sarah smiled apologetically. "yeah I am. Sorry, it took me so long."

The receptionist adjusted her glasses. She eyed Sarah. "miss, are you okay? Do I need to call somebody?"

"I'm fine. I just got into a fight is all." Sarah brushed a strand of hair from her face. "is my stuff still in my room?"

The receptionist nodded. She handed Sarah a key to get in. Sarah headed to her room. She quickly grabbed all of her things. She shoved them into her duffle bag. Paranoia settled in. She kept the door to her room locked in case that man tried to get her again. She closed the blinds. She sat down on one of the beds. She took her camera out of her duffle bag. The camera had some dents in it from where she got hit. She checked the SD card to make sure she still had her photos. Unfortunately, her SD card was corrupted. It displayed an error message on the screen. "damn it." she muttered. "welp. Glad to know the money I spent on this thing went down the drain." She put her camera back in her bag. She turned the TV on to kind of take her mind off things. She hoped her brother would find her in time.

 _ **So you've probably noticed that my chapters are getting longer and longer. That's because there's so much of this one story arch that I have to cover. I think you guys will enjoy having a longer chapter to read, anyway. I know that it's very different from how Mo and I first roleplayed it out but you guys seem happy with it.**_

 _ **I do want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas. I hope you guys are enjoying the holidays. I will see you guys with a new chapter quite soon**_

 _ **-G**_


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